Lucky Thirteen
by Falaphesian
Summary: When the washedup bounty hunter meets the floundering escapee, both find that the road to freedom may lay a little farther away than just off the wellbeaten path. But all they had to do was run away for a year and a day. AU, LxC
1. Disappearing Heroes

For the explanation on this thing... Read the A/N at the bottom. It's disclaimer time.

Disclaimer: As always, I don't own or have any right to the characters of Kingdom Hearts or the various Final Fantasies. They're not mine, you see. It's that simple. Me no own, you no sue.

**...................................**

**Lucky Thirteen**

'Disappearing Heroes'

"Hey, buddy, I'm checking out for the last time." Cloud leant against the counter in front of him, staring pointedly at the man behind it. ...The man who really didn't seem to notice his existence at that moment. Alrighty then. Cloud tried again.

"_Mister_, I wanna get _out_ of here. Think we could hurry this up a little? You're wasting my time." Adjusting the spectacles perched on the tip of his large and rather bony nose, the elderly man finally peered over his newspaper at the blonde in front of him. Agitated blue eyes met his aging ones and once again a spidery hand crept up from the paper to push the small glasses up towards his eyes.

"Eh?" was all that came out of his mouth.

"My **papers**, buddy! I need 'em to get outta here!"

"Whatta makes you thinkee can do that?"

Slamming his hand on the counter, it was all Cloud could do to keep from snarling and ripping the old guy's throat out. What a big fat waste of his time this was! At this rate, he'd be caught before he'd even set foot out of the city. ...How _embarrassing. _So, trying to contain his anger and lower his voice, Cloud spat, "Listen. _You_ know how it works. I got a year and a day to run away, or whatever crap it is. Just sign me out an' let 'em know, would ya?"

Eyes widening at Cloud's simple clarification, the aged man vanished for a moment behind a tower of papers. It was astonishing to Cloud how anyone could manage to spend their entire life in that horrid room doing that equally horrid job. Signing people out and in, watching people come and go, reviewing records, updating records, and always, _always_ adding more.

Before he could continue his thoughts anymore, Cloud found himself once again within the presence of the small man who was yet again trying to get his glasses to sit properly on that nose of his. It'd probably been broken five times over by someone even more peeved than Cloud, so it was really a small wonder that _any_thing could manage to sit on it.

"Hee-ya we are. Says... Ah, says: 'Cloud Stwife--'"

"_Strife_."

"'Cloud Stwife, age twenty, height a' five fewt six... Attempted escapeees... tweelve times?'" The man raised a skeptical eyebrow at Cloud, who simply glared icily in response. "Wahaha, well, thunteeth twy's deh charm, boy! Wahaha! A yeaw an' a day! Wahaha! Guh luck to ya, boy! Waha!" Dipping a long quill into a nearby inkwell, the man continued to howl with laughter as he added another mark to the tally Cloud currently had going beside his name before he tucked the bulging file in his hand away, pushing the battered spectacles up the bridge of his nose and turning back to the blonde.

"Wah-- Huh? Eh? 'Ellooo?" The room was already empty.

-------

Twelve times. _Twelve times_, Cloud had gotten the crazy idea in his head that he could escape. He was well aware of what everyone around him had been muttering about him. The crazy boy who couldn't even make it across the Omega River before he was caught and dragged back to work. Well damn. It wasn't like it was Cloud's goal in life, to escape and be caught time after time again. It was just _stupid_.

Now as he slipped through the streets of Destati, Cloud began wishing that it was his twelfth try. Or maybe the fourteenth. The thirteenth just oozed unluckiness and no doubt he'd be facing mass humiliation. Wonderful. Just _wonderful_. Like he honestly needed another failed attempt at freedom to add to his records. Most sane people gave the old escape routine one or two runs and then just flat out gave up, submitting themselves to a life of hard labor.

But not Cloud!

Destati was set up much like any other large hub in the center of the continent, quadrants divided by class and social stature. Hades was the man who practically ran the whole place, basically controlling an entire third of the population and driving them out into the orchards each morning to harvest, harvest, harvest. For the serfs there was no rest, but there was also no hardship. They never had to worry about taxes and they never had to worry about losing their job. They were cared for and watched after so long as they remained in Hades' service.

Well Cloud was just _sick_ of harvesting some damn _fruit_ for his entire life. Pulling the hood up on his cloak, he easily slipped into the shadows of back roads and narrow alleyways, making his way through the lower quadrants and slowly drawing ever closer to the city gates. Dusk was nearly upon Destati and Cloud was hoping that nightfall would bring a change in guard posts and enough cover to allow him to get over the wall with no problem.

Why scale the wall? Seeing as Cloud had already tried escaping through the ancient subway tunnels of Destati and had only ended up nearly freezing to death because he got _lost_, it made sense to try an escape without going underground. Walking right through the main gate didn't work, he'd found out rather quickly. Nor did crafting a machine that would supposedly fly him straight over the wall. No, that stupid thing just crashed into the bell tower and left Cloud with a broken arm and a broken ego for quite some time.

But _this_. **This** would be his last look at Destati. As Cloud finally reached the end of a long narrow alleyway, coming face to face with the towering bricks of the city wall, it was all he could do to crouch down in the shadows and watch the sky, waiting for the last traces of daylight to dwindle away. As always, the possibility of never having to pick another paopu fruit again and being able to do whatever he felt like whenever he felt like it... well, the whole thing itself nearly had Cloud shaking with excitement.

So when night finally chose that moment to descend over the sprawling city of Destati, Cloud was more than ready. Or at least... he _really_ hoped so. Creeping out from his darkened corner, the blonde rounded the bend and quickly surveyed the area. No one in sight yet, for none of the local bars and watering holes had really started to get lively. Cloud knew that within the hour, the middle-class throng of citizens would be out and about, shopping, swearing, and swaggering to the nearest open joint available. So that didn't really leave him with much time to _learn_ how to scale a wall, now did it?

With a determined nod, Cloud hurriedly swung his pack off his shoulder, rummaging around for a moment before finally pulling a long rope tied to a grapple that hopefully looked a lot cheaper than it really was. The wall itself wasn't terribly high, but it was a well-built structure with almost no nooks and crevices that might possibly give Cloud any support during his climb. So basically, assuming everything went as planned, Cloud would be up the rope and over the wall before anyone could spot him.

Cloud tried to ignore the rather unnerving fact that the grapple didn't seem to weigh all that much in his hand as he lifted it from its narrow base, swinging it slowly around once before releasing it into the air, setting the twisted piece of metal soaring ten feet above the ground.

Too bad the wall was _twenty_ feet above that ground.

Clanging noisily against the sandstone wall, the stupid piece of equipment suddenly lost all force within it and plummeted once again earthward, causing poor Cloud to muffle his own yelp and wince as it contacted sharply with the ground. After deciding that the whole little mishap was entirely the grapple's fault, Cloud warily looked around to see if anyone had come to investigate the noise. Of course not. This was _Destati_ after all.

After two more failed attempts, Cloud finally managed to get the grapple hooked over the top of the wall. Tugging hesitantly on the dangling rope and quickly deeming the little contraption strong enough, Cloud hauled himself up onto the rope and began to climb.

Years of climbing trees had given Cloud's arms plenty of strength, but as expected, the smooth wall did quite a number on him. Biting his bottom lip as stone scraped against his elbows and knees, Cloud continued to clamber up the side of the wall, hoping and praying that some random good-for-nothing guard or citizen wouldn't stumble upon his little escapade while he was _almost_ there.

_So close, so close... Come on, just a little farther... _Four feet to go. Arms aching and hands burning, Cloud continued to cheer himself on mentally. _Almost there! Just a bit more... _Two feet! Just two feet away from the top of the wall and then--

And then...

And _then_...

That crappy excuse for a grapple broke.

With a violent jolt of the rope and the ear-piercing screech of bending and then breaking metal, Cloud quickly found himself whimpering pitifully as he dangled twenty feet above the ground, clinging desperately to the ledge of the wall as the rope fell past him. Already, his thirteenth attempt at escape was starting to show just how unlucky it could be. _At this rate, I'll be dead before I'm free._

Almost as though on cue, a pair of guards turned onto the road, probably discussing their wives' terrible cooking skills or their kids' terrible manners. Whatever it was they'd been so eagerly talking about between themselves, it didn't really matter. Both of them spotted Cloud almost instantly as he clawed frantically at the wall, trying to find **anything** that would just allow him to pull himself over the wall and onto the other side.

"Heeey! You there! Whaddya think you're--"

"Paopu harvester, Reno. You know how desperate those scum are when they get the chance to escape. Hahaha! The only reason they got that dumbass rule is to keep us in shape. Come on!"

_There_!! His foot finally found a slight jag in the surface of the wall and Cloud immediately placed all his weight onto the foot that balanced against it as he swung himself up and over the wall at last before his exhausted arms finally gave way and allowed poor Cloud to topple easily down towards the ground on the other side of the city.

Through some foggy haze of pain and confusion, the realization that he'd made it over the wall hit Cloud abruptly and sent him staggering blindly to his feet. Those damn guards would be there any minute and Cloud knew for a fact that if they caught him, that was that. All he had going for him at that moment was the several minute head-start he had.

Without giving himself any more time to think it over, Cloud launched to his feet and set out. One of the slightly crazier parts of his brain must've figured that the more confusing of path he took, the less chance that any guard would be able to find him. So, stumbling through the underbrush of the forest and doing his best to ignore the fact that he was being about as quiet and inconspicuous as a stampeding herd of polka-dotted elephants, Cloud set off. The Omega River marked the end of Destati's boundaries, and if he could just manage to get across it...

If he could just do that, Cloud assured himself, he'd be set.

Blue eyes widened in panic as Cloud heard the crashing of others behind him, storming through the dense copse of trees in hot pursuit. _Oh **shit**_. Never before had Cloud been hit with such a sudden desire to just burst into tears and throw his metaphorical cards on the metaphorical table. Why couldn't he _ever_ just experience at least a _day_ of freedom? Why did he always have to--?

Cloud's mindless dash through the forest was instantly cut short as the forest floor simply vanished right out from underneath him. During the split second in which his body was pitched forward over thing air, Cloud was amused to find a flicker of laughter echoing in his mind. _Really should watch that ground, Cloud. You don't watch it and it just runs away from you. Just. Like. That._

And _just like that_, Cloud's already worn and withered body hurtled headlong into the Omega River, icy cold water piercing him to the bone as his nose and ears were flooded in an onslaught of viscous water. Thirteen, thirteen, thirteen... The number giggled at him from the annoying spot right between his ears that Cloud just couldn't get at. Of all the stupid things... '_Just make it **past **the river. Then I'll be safe!' **Past** the river! Not **into** it!_

Thankfully, the Omega River had never really lived up to its grand-sounding name and was really quite calm. Stretching far into the countryside, the river emptied... well... As Cloud bobbed in circles underwater, his lungs pathetically prodding his brain and politely requesting a bit of oxygen, he came to realize one little detail. In all his years serving under Hades, the only life he'd ever known... He'd never learned anything about geography. All he knew were names, up and down, and north, south, east, and west.

It took of all this a grand total of one minute to happen. During those sixty seconds, the two guards from earlier burst from the forest and skidded to a halt, looking around, absolutely baffled, for the spiky haired goon they'd chased down. Just where the hell had that kid run off to?!

"I swear I saw him take off this way! I swear it!"

"Yeah, yeah, you swear, you swear! Well **I** swear if we don't find his sorry ass, **our** sorry asses are gonna get kicked! Get a move on!"

Cloud resurfaced only a few moments later, quietly gulping in air greedily. The guards were leaving? Luck! That was absolute and _sheer_ luck that they were simply too stupid to look in the river! ...Well, alright, maybe it was just luck that Cloud was stupid enough to fall in the river in the first place. But it didn't matter!

Unable to contain his joy, Cloud allowed a delighted grin to spread across his face, squeezing his eyes shut tight and thrusting a fist up into the air in victory. He'd done it! He'd **actually **done it! Now all he had to do was find somewhere to hide out for a year or so and he'd really be free. Free to do whatever he wanted to whenever he wanted to... Free to never have to look at another stupid star shaped fruit again. Just plain free. Cloud's favorite four letter word.

Raking a hand through dripping blond locks, Cloud glanced around in the darkness. Alrighty then. The hard part was practically over. Now that whole issue about geography popped up. Which way led to the ocean? _Let's see..._ After thinking it over for a few moments, Cloud simply shrugged. Coast or inland... it didn't really make a difference. He was wanted now, a man on the run. It was a dog eat dog world. Live and let live, kill or be killed and all that crap. Cloud was on his own!

...However, the more he walked cautiously along the far bank of the river, the more Cloud began to question that. He had this unnerving feeling that he _wasn't_ alone. Feather-light sparks of electricity shot up and down his arms and spine, his already frazzled nerves completely on edge, waiting for the slightest motion in the darkness, the slightest sound.

The countryside surrounding the somewhat isolated city of Destati was a tangled web of grassy fields, dense forests, and marshy lowlands, rivers and streams threading through the mass of it all. Even the most skilled journeymen would have absolute hell trying to make it through without getting turned in the wrong direction at least once due to a misleading patch of moss or a seemingly confused compass needle.

So naturally, Cloud was absolutely lost. And he hadn't even gone more than fifteen miles from the city itself.

Once again, that annoying feeling of despair began to creep up on Cloud as he warily continued to plod along the riverbank. That feeling mixed with the creepy notion that he was being watched or followed... Had Cloud not been so set on freedom, he probably would've turned back and tried to make his way to Destati once again. At least living as a serf he was safe. He wasn't happy, but he was _safe_.

Suddenly his senses were lit on fire, his brain going haywire and setting off warning signals, flares, smoke alarms, **anything** that would get Cloud's attention. Hands trembling violently, Cloud fumbled around from something he could use as a weapon. Something he could defend himself with, something he could strike out with... There was _someone there_...

No sooner had the hand descended on his shoulder did Cloud let out a surprised yelp, closing his hand around the nearest thing he could find that could fulfill the purpose Cloud needed it for. With one fluent and swift motion, Cloud wildly swung the hunk of driftwood around him, turning his body away from his attacker in the process and wincing as the wood met said attacker with a dull **whack**! There was a muffled groan and another thud as a body fell against the ground before Cloud found himself gawking at the heap at his feet.

"Oh... my... God... I **_killed_** him!" Eyes widening to roughly the size of large tea saucers, Cloud's gaze flickered back and forth between the body on the ground and the driftwood in his hand. _It was the wood's fault! It **made** me do it! _It was one thing to be running away as a serf, attempting to become a free man, but it was another thing all entirely to be running away as a murderer, responsible for the death of a total stranger.

Thanks to an overactive imagination, Cloud was now pleasantly haunted by images of himself years down the road, cleaving daggers through his victims' bodies, all just for a stale piece of bread or a gold coin or two. He'd be wanted across the entire continent and he'd no doubt have to flee the entire fucking kingdom. Cloud would probably end up killing the border guards too, for they'd recognize him right away and would try their best to uphold the law and keep Cloud The Menace from passing. Those poor guards... Their wives would be sitting at home, the night of their husbands' murders, rocking the baby in the cradle and wondering, "What could've happened to--"

And thankfully, Cloud's rampant mind was instantly cut off from its crazed wanderings by a stirring at the ground. _No way! _Running away, committing murder, and then **raising the dead**. What the hell sort of night was this turning out to be??

Before he could allow himself a second thought, Cloud blindly bent over, grabbing the poor man by the ankles and pulling with all his might, hauling the body further down the bank and into the icy water of the river. Panting heavily, Cloud gasped out, "I'm... sorry! Fuckfuckfuckfuck, I'm... **so**... fucking... sorry! Poor... bastard... Rest in peace! I never meant you ill will or anything, buddy!"

Another groan from below him and Cloud howled, leaping backwards away from the zombie-person and tumbling into the river, mouth gaping open as the scene unwound before him.

"You didn't mean me 'ill will?' The _fuck_ are you talking about? You clobbered me with a damn _branch_." The figure sluggishly pulled itself into a sitting position, one hand reached upwards and rubbing tenderly at the shadowed face, drawing a hiss from the man. "You're lucky my nose isn't broken."

"Who the hell **_are_ **you?!" Cloud intelligently blurted out.

"I could ask much the same of _you_." The man leaned forward from the darkness and a patch of moonlight gave Cloud his first decent glimpse of the man he'd thought he'd killed (and then, of course, promptly reincarnated or something). Steely blue eyes regarded him with an icy gaze, chunks of deep brown hair falling over the man's face haphazardly. Before Cloud was given much of a chance to both drink in the man's appearance and form a retort to his statement, the man decided to speak again, his words coming out slowly, but in a chopped manner, almost as though the man found the very idea of putting a sentence together awkward.

"Your eyes... You must be one of the paopu harvester's, I take it? The mako shows." Narrowing those cold eyes slightly, he continued unabashedly, the hacked flow of words now smoothing out into a threatening deep tone. "You must be very lucky to have made it this far, for you're certainly not any **good**. I could hear you coming from miles away."

Unable to keep himself from huffing slightly at the insulting statement, Cloud glowered at the man in front of him, folding his arms over his chest defiantly. Granted, one can only look so defiant when sprawled up to their waist in water, but Cloud was doing his best. "Listen _pal_, I never asked for your damn opinion or anything. Correct me if I'm wrong, but **I'm** the one who beamed **you** in the nose with a stick."

"I'm a bounty hunter, I'll have you know. I could easily march you right back to those fields before you even knew what hit you."

And just like that, whatever arrogant pride and dignity Cloud had been building for himself against this stranger was shattered like cheap glass. A... bounty hunter? Malificent's finest henchmen, really. If what Cloud was told was true, the few bounty hunters that still roamed the kingdom whored their elite skills off as mercenaries or for tracking down runaway serfs that nobles wanted to keep a tight leash on. And here Cloud was, mocking one of those skilled swordsmen about hitting him with a damn twig. Could he be any less classy if he possibly tried?

"Hey... I didn't mean it about the whole... wood thing. I was just surprised and--" Cloud was floundering and he knew it. He'd gotten so far... All just to run into a good for nothing bounty hunter, of all things. _Why_?

However, the man simply snorted and held up a hand, silencing Cloud without even having to speak a word in command. Well. Nothing like flaunting your power or anything. Studying Cloud calmly, the man shook his head slowly. "I'm not going to turn you in. Just shut up about it. I'm over with that business anyway."

Cloud couldn't decide whether he wanted to leap for joy or shout with happiness. He figured that the stoic man in front of him would probably object to both, and the **last** thing Cloud wanted to do at that moment was get on this guys' bad side. So, nodding his head slightly, Cloud simply let the silence hang there between the two for a minute or so. It was when Leon began to stand up that Cloud finally began clicking pieces together in his mind.

"Can I ask who you are?" Seeing that this question only prompted a skeptical look from the man now standing over him, Cloud hurried to elaborate. "I mean, your name. I know you're a bounty hunter and you know I'm a runaway serf. My name is Cloud, though..." There was hesitancy in the other man's response and Cloud picked up on it, instantly wondering if he'd really gone and said the wrong thing already, sealing his fate once again to be dragged back off to the paopu fields.

But after a moment or so, the man shrugged nonchalantly, hands coming to rest on his narrow hips as he allowed his cold gaze to drive into Cloud once more. "It's Leon." Short, quick, and to the point. Well alrighty then.

There was more silence, only broken by the din of crickets chirping in the night and the occasional burble that rose up from somewhere downriver as water pooled over rocks and tumbled down its way towards the ocean. It quickly became apparent to Cloud that Leon wasn't much for fueling conversation unless he was brutally bludgeoned into it with a random piece of driftwood. And almost as soon as this fact dawned on Cloud, another one tagged along in its footsteps, assuredly either a very good idea or a very foolish one.

"If you're not a bounty hunter anymore, what are you doing?"

"..." Again with that shrug.

So Cloud tried again, pushing the issue. "I mean, you're an ex-hunter, I'm an ex-harvester. We could... I dunno! It beats being alone, doesn't it?"

The gaze that fell upon Cloud then was even colder and harsher than before, Leon's voice laced with a harsh mocking bite. "No, not really. I enjoy being alone. You just don't want to get caught, that's all."

Water seeping in through his clothing and chilling Cloud to the bone was only worsening his mood. He didn't feel like sitting in some crummy river all night long and certainly didn't feel like wasting his time arguing with one of Queen Malificent's bitchy old puppets. But at the same time, Cloud just couldn't shake the feeling that if he let Leon walk away, something would just go terribly wrong.

Besides, traveling with a washed up bounty hunter would surely pay off. Leon knew how to fight and he'd definitely know how to keep Cloud away from the authorities that might chase after him should Hades decide that he was worth the trouble. And seeing as Hades seemed to enjoy making serfs' lives a living hell, he would not doubt ensure that Cloud _was_ worth the trouble and was tracked down accordingly. In short, Leon's accompaniment would mean Cloud's easy ticket to freedom, no doubt about it.

"Yeah, you know, you're right. I _don't _want to get caught." Rather than wavering under Leon's ever intense stare, Cloud straightened his back and met the older man's eyes with his own, refusing to back down and let the whole thing drop. Whether or not there were unspoken words exchanged between the two, neither of them really knew. But somehow there was some arrangement that was agreed upon from that short staring contest and Leon stiffly turned around, waving his hand and gesturing for Cloud to follow.

"Alright then. You're doomed without me anyway."

"Gee, your confidence is just overwhelming."

Hauling himself up from the river, Cloud momentarily bent over to try and brush most of the water away from his clothes, failing miserably. He jogged to catch up with Leon, walking beside the taller man even though it seemed to annoy him somewhat. Yeah, well, who really cared.

Both men were silent as Leon led them away from the Omega River, Cloud not once turning to look back towards the opposite shore where Destati lay. That was behind him now and more than anything he was eager to just have that year trickle by to he wouldn't have to run and hide, so he wouldn't have to obey anyone else. ...Not to mention the fact that Cloud just didn't want to turn around and find a troop of guards following behind them. He really wouldn't have been totally surprised, he realized.

The sounds of the night drifted lazily through the forest, clinging to Leon and Cloud as they themselves moves silently onward, neither of them speaking for the longest time. Inwardly, Cloud found himself teeming with questions and words, all of which he wanted to spill the moment he got the chance. It always seemed that the people who never talked were the people with the best stories to tell, and Cloud oddly found himself wanting to hear Leon's tale.

Tucking his arms lazily behind his head as he continued to walk alongside the brunette, Cloud turned a quizzical look towards his guide, daring to break the silence. "So. When do we get to sleep?"

If Leon was annoyed, his voice didn't betray the emotion. "You're already tired?"

Reflexively, Cloud frowned, his voice becoming defensive. "Hey, you're not the one who was sneaking around the city, scaling walls, and running from guards all night. I think I have a _right_ to be at least a little tired, ya know. Besides, don't you think it'd be safer anyway to walk around and be fully alert than to stumble around half aslee--?"

"I never said we _couldn't _rest. I asked if you were tired." Casting a sidelong glance towards his shorter blond companion, Leon smirked slightly, though the action went unnoticed in the dim light of the nighttime. "Obviously, you are."

Rather than dive head first into an argument with Leon, Cloud simply rolled his eyes and plodded along beside Leon for several more yards before Leon finally gave a small nod. Their short journey had brought them to a small clearing, a fallen tree laid out across the open patch of ground, roots jutting up into the air like scattered needles on a pincushion.

"Here is fine. We'll sleep for a few hours, but then we should keep moving. If there's more guards sent after you, it won't take them too long to scour this area." With no more said on the subject, Leon brushed past Cloud into the clearing, taking the liberty in making himself comfortable on the ground, leaning his back against the dead tree. After a moment or two, Cloud followed suit, plopping down beside Leon.

Too many questions. _Can't sleep unless I get **some** of 'em off my chest._

"Hey, Leon?"

"Hn?"

"Why are you helping me?"

Leon made no move to respond other than to lift one shoulder in a half shrug, his eyes drawn closed to the world and Leon himself apparently not caring enough to open them once more.

Allowing his mind to chew it over a moment, Cloud once again continued his idle and practically-one-sided conversation.

"Do I remind you of some shady figure from your past?"

"No."

"Oh. Did you do something terribly wrong to a serf once and feel you gotta make it up to them one way or another?"

"No."

"Hm. Do--"

"Cloud." The piercing and no-nonsense tone Leon quickly picked up easily caused the younger man to shut up and give Leon his attention. It still slightly bothered Cloud how Leon seemed to have that weird... _authority _hanging about him. "I'm just doing it because I'm doing it. Leave it alone."

Bowing his head slightly, Cloud felt the sudden need to study the ground rather intensely. Naturally, he wanted to pry deeper into Leon's mind and wanted to hurl all these questions towards the other man, but it was obvious that Leon wasn't much of a talker. Particularly at this moment in time when he seemed to be trying to sleep. Or rest. Or whatever. Frankly, Cloud couldn't see _anyone_ getting much shut-eye while propped up against the dead trunk of a tree. But then again, Cloud also hadn't the foggiest idea as to why the hell Leon was there with him in the first place.

_Eh._ _Who really cares? _

"Hey, can I ask you one more question?" Cloud inquired, turning his head slightly to get a better look a Leon. The clearing they sat in allowed more moonlight to filter through into the forest and Cloud noticed a thin scar tracing it way from Leon's brow to the side of his face, an angry red line standing out against his pale complexion. Though the glimpse had only caused more questions to surface, Cloud put a lid on them firmly. It was a nasty scar and had probably hurt like a bitch with Leon got it. No sense in reopening old wounds, so to speak.

"What," Leon mumbled in a flat voice. He really didn't care for the whole idle chat thing. Come to think of it, he really didn't care for talking all that much in the first place. Leon could really seem to understand how on earth the blond could miss that fact, but he obviously had. Oh well.

"You were... Ya know. If you were a bounty hunter and all, you were sort of in the inner circle with the queen and all, right?" Cloud plucked a cool blade of grass from the ground, weaving it in and around between his fingertips as his mind worked to piece together his thoughts. "She was the one who issued the whole order for the paopu fruit harvesting and everything. But it's not like anyone _eats_ the fruit. Where do they all go?"

"Where does what all go?"

Cloud heaved a small sigh impatiently, the thing blade of grass straining under the pressure he put it under, threading and rethreading it in between his slender fingers. "The _fruits_. Where do they all go? What, does she have a personal collection of 'em or something?" The idea in itself caused Cloud to snicker lightly and release the grass, allowing its bent and withered form to float back down to the earth.

"It's nothing you have to concern yourself with," Leon stated simply. His eyes were open then, though Cloud had just noticed. Stormy gray eyes now focused on the vast expanse of sky above them both, though only a small patch of it was really visible due to the thick forest surrounding the little clearing. Back in Destati, Cloud noticed, the lights would've blotted out many of the stars. Out there though... _Sheesh__, I never realized there were so **many** of them._

"And what about you?" Leon asked. Cloud was mildly surprised that the other man had actually picked up a thread from the fallen conversation, though he did his best not to show it. "Picking paopu fruit just getting old or what is it? Why are you going to all this trouble? Just so you can walk around and say that no one is your master or something? Seems like a waste."

"Are you crazy?! You don't know what it's _like_! Day in and day out, it's the same thing all the time. And you never get a chance to just hang around or go somewhere. You have to have a purpose and you have to have permission..." Cloud trailed off, knowing he was sounding lame. It was just difficult to really convey the whole thing to someone else. _Guess I never really tried to do it before._

"I mean... You're under protection and everything. And you can have a family. But _they're_ bound to the stupid serf bloodline then and you have to live knowing your little kid's gonna end up wasting his life away harvesting some stupid fruit that no one even eats." Cloud's previous cheerful mood had faded away, leaving a rather bitter attitude that he didn't even bother trying to cover up. "You've got artists and writers, brilliant singers, dancers, _thinkers_, and they're all wasted because they're supposed to pick paopu fruits for the rest of their lives."

The little clearing fell silent then, Cloud finding himself unwilling to want to say much more. He couldn't tell what Leon thought on the whole matter for the brunette's gaze was still focused on the sky above. Had Cloud not expected that Leon was the type of person who picked up every little detail of everything around him, he would've guessed that Leon hadn't even been listening to him at all.

But finally, after the minutes of silence that seemed to drag on like hours for Cloud, Leon's voice drifted over towards his ears, sounding oddly far away even though Cloud only sat two or three feet away from the other man.

"So you're running away for a year and a day, playing right into this whole little game they've got set up, hm?"

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?!" Cloud instantly regretted his slight outburst no sooner had the words flew out of his mouth, but it was too late to take them back then. Once again, a thin veil of quiet settled over the clearing, though this one was different for the last. Cloud was waiting, patiently as possible, for his new companion to say something. It looked, however, like Leon was more focused on the stars.

"I don't remember the legend behind that fruit."

Cloud scoffed and draped his arms over the top of the tree trunk, allowing his own gaze to drifty lazily skyward, traveling from star to start as he skimmed briefly over the corny story he'd been hearing since childhood. It was one of those ridiculous little things that Cloud figured was invented to make the serf kids feel like they were doing an important job or something. It only took a few years for the magic of the story to wear off, but even Cloud wouldn't deny that he'd once believed in the little tale just like everyone else.

"Each star in the sky represents a sort of... 'ideal' pair of people. When those two meet here on earth, their star falls from the sky and comes down to the ground in the shape of the paopu. Once two people realize how deep their feelings run for each other or something, then they go share the fruit. Sharing it with someone makes your destinies merge. Some crazy thing like that." Cloud glanced over at Leon to see if the older man was laughing yet. Nope. Still intently star-gazing. "They stay a part of each other's lives forever after that."

"And?"

"And what?"

"Do you believe it?"

"The legend? Hah! No way. It's just a stupid story made up to pacify a bunch of kids." Cloud frowned slightly at the sky, staring at the stars in an almost patronizing way. "Besides. There's no one sharing the paopu fruits or anything. All the fruit is harvested and taken _somewhere_," Cloud said, obviously hinting at the fact that he still wanted to know what was going on with the fruit. Either Leon was very oblivious and didn't pick up the hint or he simply chose not to care. Cloud had the sneaking suspicion it was the latter of the two.

"So what about you, Leon?" Cloud removed his arms from the tree trunk, resting his elbows on his thighs as he leaned forward, trying to get a good look at Leon's face in the dim light. "What's your story? How come you gave up the whole bounty hunter thing?"

Well that certainly did it. Leon tore his gaze swiftly away from the sky, fixing Cloud with another stony look which clearly stated, "None of your damn business." Cloud simply blinked calmly back at Leon, but didn't press the topic any further than that. He simply didn't want to cower under some stupid look Leon through at him, even though it was enough to stop the heart mid-beat. Bounty hunter or not, it didn't matter now. The way Cloud saw it, they were working together. ...Of course, Cloud really didn't quite understand how _he_ was doing much to help the situation or anything, but still. Leon and Cloud _were_ (for the moment, at any rate) a team.

Leon must have understood Cloud's thinking, though whether he agreed with it or not... who knew. He simply turned away from Cloud, once again closing his eyes to the rest of the world and leaning up against the old tree. A tiny whisper of a sigh brushed past his lips before he muttered, "Go to sleep. We're heading to Djose in a few hours."

Cloud obeyed and was asleep several minutes later. What could he say? He was still used to following orders.

-------

Miles and miles away, Rinoa Heartily grinned merrily, adjusting the focus on her telescope while still managing to juggle the thick sheaf of papers balanced in her lap. Just as she'd expected, the night was absolutely perfect for stargazing. She'd just managed to make it back home a few hours ago thanks to a hypello and his spare shoopuf. And sure enough, it looked like more things were about to pan out just as she'd expected too.

Leafing through the papers quickly, Rinoa flipped past star chart after star chart, her eyes scanning intently over the mapped constellations and reading through the tiny labels in the corner of each page. Normally, she never had patience for this sort of thing. As it was, she was already tapping her foot incessantly against the stone floor of the small balcony, trying to ignore the nagging feeling she got whenever she had to sit still for prolonged period of time.

But she figured it was the least she could do, after all. Besides, Rinoa had simply taken a little... special interest in this one particular project Aerith had drawn up.

Scanning the page in front of her quickly, Rinoa switched her focus back up towards the sky, trying desperately to pin the stars drawn on the page to the stars hanging in the sky. Really, the two looked nothing alike to her, but obviously all this junk must've made sense to Aerith.

So, choosing the star from the map that she hoped was the right was, Rinoa brought the telescope lens in to focus on the one star, zooming in closer, closer, and closer until the brilliant little light almost took up half of the lens on the powerful instrument. Peering intently through the scope, Rinoa couldn't help but pout slightly. How was she supposed to know if this was the _right_ one? What if she spent all this time and she was really just watching the _wrong_ one?

And suddenly the star seemed to swell to twice its size before simply vanishing from the view in the telescope, causing poor Rinoa to let out an exasperated sigh and whack her forehead with her palm dejectedly, feeling rather stupid for even having tried the whole thing in the first place.

_Hey, wait a second..._

Sure enough, a streak of silver light was just finishing it path across the sky before disappearing from Rinoa's sight once again, this time for good. But instead of sulking and pouting and whining like she normally would have, Rinoa found herself smiling even more brilliantly than she had when she'd first hauled the telescope out onto the balcony in the first place, towing Aerith's mountains of notes along with her.

"Who did you meet tonight, Squall?" Rinoa asked the air, absentmindedly wondering if her question could carry back across the miles to the one it was really directed towards. No, of course not. That was silly. It sounded like some sort of stupid childish hope, didn't it?

**.....................................................**

Read it? Like it? Hate it? Whatever. Review, please. I'd love to get feedback from you, as always. XD

And before you panic or think I'm a horrible person who is deserting her other fics... uh... well... don't. I have a schedule (more or less) posted in my livejournal. If you'd like to know what fics I'm wrapping up when, well, that's the place to go. You'll also get a bit more of an explanation on the Lucky Thirteen situation. But if you don't want to go to the livejournal or anything, I can sum it up for you right here.

Other fics: finished very soon.

This fic: the recycled and seriously revamped plot of an old fic, bigger and better and hopefully... Well, I don't know. You tell me.

--Ori


	2. Players Push Air

_When we last saw our sorry little pair of heroes, The Runaway had just met The Washed-Up-Bounty-Hunter as he fled Destati in a rather desperate attempt at getting his freedom. Though an awkward and bumbling duo, they seemed to get along. Until now._

(x) (x) (x)

**Lucky Thirteen**

'Players Push Air'

Dew clung to grass, holding on for dear life and preening in the early morning sun. Somehow it managed to do both at the same time. Who knows. Go figure. There were your typical chirping birds, rustling forest animals, and buzzing insects. There was a distant laughter that bubbled up from the creek which would become a river which would become an ocean, but which still began from a mountain stream.

And then there was Cloud.

"I am **so** fucking cold." The blonde whined plaintively, wrapping his arms securely around himself and dancing from foot to foot, squeezing his eyes shut. Had Leon allowed himself such an action, he probably would've burst out laughing. As it was, the brunette simply rolled his eyes, resting one hand on his hip and running the other through choppy locks of hair.

"If we don't get a move on, those guards are going to catch up to you."

"Hey, I'm not the one who was wasting time and insisted on taking a bath in that cold as hell excuse for _water_!"

Leon smirked shaking his head as he brushed past Cloud, drawing a scowl from the other man as he said, "For all that you're supposed to be escaping a 'horrible' life, it must not be that bad if you're not used to living under such conditions."

"Okay, you know what? You don't even--"

A hand suddenly flew out towards Cloud, clamping down over his mouth as Leon narrowed his eyes and promptly dragged the other man behind the nearest crop of shrubbery. Sure enough, a distant crackle of leaves was heard, soon accompanied by gruff voices jabbering back and forth.

"You saw 'im last noight, Bub. What'd 'ee look loike?"

"Hurr. Um... Spoikey hair. Loss'o it."

"An'? What else?"

"Girly. Hurr, hurr!"

Cloud made a face at this, though Leon sent him an icy glare that dared him to breathe even one word in his own defense. Oddly enough, Cloud was too busy wondering what on earth Hades' cronies were doing out looking for him this early. Part of him couldn't help but snicker and remind the _other _part of himself that he'd never made it this far before.

_They'd probably have much better luck keeping everyone back home under control if escape looked impossible._

"I'nu find any tracks or nuttin."

"Me either."

"Hrmmm..."

"Take the Highroad, then. Up ter Djose... have a look around, m'kay?"  
"A'ight."

The fading sound of crunching leaves and snapping twigs dwindled away into silence, Cloud and Leon still standing statue-still, pinned up next to a large oak. After several moments of the eerie calm, Leon finally released his hold on Cloud and stepped away, not looking back as he quietly started off on his way through the woods, knowing Cloud was bound to follow.

"We'd do best to avoid Djose for the time being, then," Leon stated, though the fact was more than clear. Still. Cloud had seemed to be the slightly dense one when it came to such things. There was absolutely no harm in just stating the obvious, was there?

"Great, wonderful. Fabulous. So what now?" With a dramatic sigh, Cloud fell into step next to Leon, arms crossed behind his head, a bored expression making itself at home on his face. _It just figures this would happen. Damn._

"Cut straight through to Olympus. We'll stay outside there... Tomorrow we can start towards Traverse--"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up a second! I said I wanted to go to the shore! It'd be way safer out there than it would be mucking around in the center of the kingdom." Cloud didn't stop walking beside the taller man, but he shot the other a look that would've killed sheep. ...Mostly it just would've killed sheep because there wasn't anything else it _could_ kill. And Leon wasn't exactly a type of sheep, but-- "We _should_ be headed towards Atlantica."

"No." Not even bothering to spare a glance at Cloud, Leon continued walking, continued talking. "We're going to Olympus. I have business to take care of there."

There was no room for arguments with the tone Leon chose to use, but Cloud was obviously driven to make room. Narrowing his eyes and drawing himself up to his full height, he took wide strides forward to catch up with the brunette in front of him, grabbing hold of Leon's arm and tugging, shaking, _pulling_ the other man to a rough halt.

"Well sorry to bust your bubble, _buddy_, but this spiky blonde ass is not planning on getting kicked back into Destati! If you wanna prance off to go run errands, that's **fine** by me, but _I'm_ not going." _So there._

Blonde and brunette regarded each other for the quickest of moments, gone in the blink of an eye, but there nonetheless. There, gone, and back again as Leon chose his words carefully, his voice coming out slowly, yet pinched with agitation.

"There's nothing for you in Atlantis."

"It's safer than Olympus."

"Once you get to the ocean. ...What then?"

Caught off guard, Cloud blinked and had to avert his gaze, eyes seeking the forest floor for comfort. _Oh leaves, only you love me. _"...I don't know. I'll think of something then. I can get on a boat and get out of this kingdom for good. Come back in a year, go back to Destati and rub in their sorry faces! ...I don't know." It was a plan, which was more that Cloud had had only a few hours ago. It was something that was different, something that might possibly hold a future for him...

_There's the ocean, you can kiss it. Lean down, boy, it won't bite. The only thing the water holds is sirens and the only thing the sirens hold is--_

"--the docks."

Furrowing his eyebrows together, Cloud shook his head slightly, drawing a somewhat puzzled glance from Leon. _What was that about? _

_There's the ocean, you can kiss it. Lean down, boy, it won't bite. The only thing the water holds is sirens and the only thing the sirens hold is you. Let's go together, boy. You can follow me. I will lead you._

"Uh... S-sorry, what was that?" Cloud asked, trying to conceal his own bafflement.

"...I said Hades will have already alerted the docks."

"Yeah right. I'm just one serf out of millions. My freedom isn't worth as much to him as it is to _me_."

_Oww... my head hurts..._ It wasn't so much a 'hurt' as it was a weird and indescribable feeling. Weird and indescribable somehow managed to translate to pain in Cloud's mind, but he forced himself to push aside the buzzing feeling behind his eyes as he blinked and focused on the words and on the person standing in front of him. _...What's his name again?_

"Did you take anything precious with you?"

"Huh?"

"When you left, you didn't steal anything or loot someone's house before running away, did you?"

"Hell no! I'm not a crim--"

"We've crossed the river. Technically we're out of Destati borderlines. But those guards that came after you were sent by Hades."

Leaves crunched beneath leather soles of boots that padded across their surface. --Cloooud! We were your only friiiiends!!-- Cloud was aware that he was following Leon, but he didn't care. He felt sick, dizzy, and just plain gross. Something was wrong and he'd rather stay by the stony jackass' side and feel at least somewhat safe and protected than go bumbling around the woods all by his sad little lonesome. Besides. This was the sort of thing people told stories about.

_Two brave adventurers from opposite walks of life, sharing bread beneath the stars, defeating evil overlords, ridding the known world of all evil, and solving world hunger! **That's** what life's **really** about!_

"I already told you, Hades doesn't _care_. Those guys from earlier probably just wanted to save their own pride or something. They'll give up and head home within the hour!"

But there was something... not right. Leon's mouth stayed firmly drawn into a thin line, his gaze locked dead ahead, his pace unwavering and unrelenting. And then there was silence. A whole big abundance of the stuff really, hanging down from the trees and tickling Cloud's nose in little bitty spider-web threads. They pulled at Cloud's lips, worming their way into his mouth, these nymph-like silence spirits. And there they laughed, drank, and had quite a merry old time while Cloud glared heatedly at the moody-as-all-hell idiot he'd gotten himself stuck with.

The moody-as-all-hell idiot... who was definitely hiding something.

"...There's something you're not telling me, huh?" Cloud raised a questioning eyebrow, but got no response. _That's it. I'm done with this. _"Whatever. I really don't care. Thanks for helping me out earlier, man, but I've gotta get a move on."

"Come with me. You're safer that way."

Pause.

Pivot.

Blink.

No, Leon was still walking his own direction. Didn't even turn back around to see if Cloud had even heard him in the first place, just _crunch, crunch, crunch_ as his boots moved over the fallen leaves.

"_Why_ are you so insistent on that?" Cloud exclaimed, his arms flying up in the air and waving around frantically, almost as though he were trying to make a point or something.

"You're _safer_ that way."

"Gah! Stop **caring** already! You're a bounty hunter! You're supposed to be a ruthless murderer out to fill your own pocket and _cut down_ anyone that-- that.... Hoo, can we pretend I didn't say that?" _Oh powers that be, please let me not have given him an idea. Just please. I'll do anything for you. I'll worship you, clean your shoes, and make my bed three times a day. ...Seeing as I don't have a bed, this shouldn't be much of a problem..._

Sadly, Cloud's insistent pleas weren't heard by any higher being. But if Leon could read minds, than certainly Cloud's thoughts amused him for at that moment a wicked smirk stretched slowly across Leon's face. Really, if Cloud hadn't been so worried, he would've been proud of the brown-haired stranger. That had been the most emotion the other guy had shown yet.

...Well, any chance of Cloud being proud of Leon was shot down the drain in the span of two seconds.

"If you choose to go on your own, I'll kill you."

"_What_?!"

"Come with me and you won't get hurt. Head to Atlantis and I _will_ 'cut you down.'" To prove his point, Leon's hand leisurely rested on the pommel of his sword that was slung at his waist, a devious glint in his eye as he asked for clarification in one simple mocking word. "Understand?"

"You _bastard_...!"

"It's a decent offer, I'd say."

"What the hell, man! You're working with _them_, aren't--"

"Would you shut up already?" "Let's get a move on. We've already wasted too much time."

"..."

"Or would you rather try and hack it out on your own against Hades' men... _and_ me?"

"Well fuck. Either way I'm screwed, aren't I? Give me one good reason not to just let you shoot me down with that stupid gunblade of yours..." "And yes, I do know what a gunblade is. I'm not that much of a country bumpkin you asshole."

"...You're interesting." "Tell you what. Come with me and I'll explain everything along the way."

"Explain what?"

"All those questions you have pinging around inside your rather empty skull."

"Hey!"

"Honestly... What they're doing with the paopu fruit? Why I'm not a bounty hunter anymore? Why everyone is so intent on bringing you back to Destati?"

"For the millionth time, _Le-_on, they're not that intent on bringing me back. I'm nobody to them, I'm just--"

"A very important pawn in their game. Yes."

"...That's not what I was going to say."

"Shut up. Come on. Stop slowing me down."

"I hate you."

"..."

x x x

"Here's the charts you asked for Aerith." Rinoa grinned, wiping her forehead with the back of her wrist as she let a large stack of papers land squarely on the large table sprawled in the middle of the room. Aerith was seated somewhere behind it... Or at least, so Rinoa hoped. She couldn't even see the other girl through the towers of paper holding drawings, blueprints, gathered data, and tens upon thousands of astrological charts.

Thankfully, Rinoa's hopes were confirmed as Aerith's soft voice flew shakily over the looming paper city.

"Thanks, Rinoa... Hey, have you heard from Rikku or Paine today?"

Rinoa shook her head, but quickly vocalized the statement. There was no way in the seven hells that Aerith had seen her gesture in the first place. "Nope. Don't worry though! Leon won't bail out on 'em, you'll see."

"...How can you be so sure? After all, he did try to--"

"Hey, you trust me, right Aerith?"

"Well of course, but Leon--"

"Then **trust** me!"

"...Rinoa, that didn't even--"

"It wasn't supposed to! Just chill out and leave the worrying to those who _really_ need to be worrying, hon."

"...Well who needs to be doing the worrying then?"

At this Rinoa smirked before giggling and moving towards the door she'd entered only moments ago. Flipping her hair over her shoulder, she simply responded, "Maleficent and her goons. Duh."

And then the door closed and Rinoa was off once again. Doing what, you ask? Well, that's not important. Not right now, at any rate.

x x x

Within the hustle and bustle of Olympus stood the main square, just inside the city gates. It was an enormous space, usually filled with vendors from all reaches of the kingdom shouting their sales out to hungry consumers, eager to sell, sell, sell anything for a profit. However, that very square, even though teeming with activity, was having what the citizen's of Olympus would refer to as a quiet day.

Which was all for the better, as far as Paine was concerned.

"Heya Dr. P," a female voice cooed. Raising an eyebrow, Paine's eyes cracked open just wide enough to see a head mopped with radiant blonde hair pop into the small door of the caravan.

"Rikku."

"Still under the weather, huh?" Her voice forced Paine into a small smile as Riku clambered up into the caravan, creating a rather tight squeeze, what with two girls and enough equipment and luggage for three others in their traveling crew. A tight squeeze, yes, but somehow cozy nonetheless.

"Mm. I guess so." Paine leant her head against the wooden sides of the caravan, her eyes closing once again. She didn't need them open to see the other girl. She already knew what Rikku looked like at every moment of every day. There was no sense in destroying a treat by having too much of it, she figured. "Leon isn't here yet."

"He'll be here, don't you worry! Rinoa **promised** and she always keeps her promises!" Rikku responded lightheartedly. After a moment though, she blinked confusedly and cocked her head to the side as she said, "Though there was this one time that--"

"I don't even wanna know."

"Aww, you big meanie. You're no fun! ..._Especially_ when you're sick."

"I'm not sick. I don't get sick."

"Everyone gets sick sometimes."

"Yeah. Everyone. Everyone except me, got it?"

Rikku rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated little sigh. _Cute_, Paine thought.

"Of course, Paine-ie-waine-ie."

..._Yeah. That's not so cute_.

"What have I told you about--"

"Paine!!!"

"...What now...?"

"They're here!!"

Eyes open, senses alert and raring to go... or... do whatever it is senses do, Paine jolted upright and swung her legs out the entrance of the small caravan, brushing aside a gauzy red curtain and peering out at Olympus. Rikku had already leapt onto the group and was sprinting towards the bouncing brunette (more commonly referred to as 'Selphie') and the two other figures she stood beside.

Eyes locked, Paine and Leon connected in a way that people of few words have a tendency to connect. And in just the few split seconds that passed between them, there was a waterfall of questions, a tidal wave of accusations, and a small stream of a little thing called doubt.

_There's no way that's the right kid._

_ Yes. Yes it is. You better believe it._

_ I don't. _

_ And I don't care._

"Leon..."

Eyebrows raised, Leon broke away from the locked gaze and glanced down at his spiky-haired companion, who, at that moment, seemed to be attempting to will the ground to open up and swallow him whole. "What is it?"

"Look..."

A piece of paper was the object that Cloud's eyes were riveted on. A lone piece of paper posted on the high stone walls of the city. A lone piece of paper... that wasn't really alone at all. In fact... there were tons of them. And they all shared one little tiny thing in common.

"Whoa, look at that. Cloud's a wanted criminal?" Selphie asked, eyes wide, head cocked to the side. Overall looking like a confused puppy, really.

"I didn't do anything! What the...?! 'Wanted for theft, rape, and... and...'" Cloud choked, his voice dying away completely as he just gaped at the wanted signs adorning the walls. _Theft, rape, and..._

"Murder," Leon murmured.

"I never did any of that..." But Cloud's protests were quiet and no matter how hard he tried, the plain and simple fact was that he was petrified. For 'theft, rape, and murder' were certainly crimes. And they were certainly crimes that, when stacked up one on top of the other, would add up to a _very_ severe punishment.

_Doing a little mental math here, let's have a look. That's a twenty-five percent chance of losing what little I have left in the way of personal rights and, oh, probably a seventy-five percent chance of losing what little I have left in the way of a head. This is just fucking wonderful._

"Don't panic just yet."

"What the fuck do you mean, 'Don't panic'?!" Cloud hissed, wheeling on Leon and glaring icily. "My fucking life is at stake here, buddy! Not just freedom anymore!"

"And if you make a scene, you'll die."

Blinking, Cloud turned to see a rather peeved looking girl stroll over towards them. Unlike the other two who'd rushed to meet them, this one seemed cool, collected, and... almost unnervingly similar to Leon.

"You're Cloud then?" she asked.  
Cloud simply nodded numbly.

"Paine. I have to say I wasn't expecting someone so..." With another glance at Leon, Paine smirked and adjusted her words before she bothered uttering them. "...Someone so young. Doesn't matter. Get into the caravan before someone bothers to put your face with the ones on the posters."

"Now wait just a minute, I have no idea who--!"

"Leon will explain everything along the way because I'm certain he's done no such thing up to this point. ...I'm right, am I not?"

Again, all Cloud could do was nod.

Satisfied, Paine turned back towards the caravan and snapped her fingers just once. No sooner had one finger brushed past the other, four mismatched silhouettes leapt into light and became a grinning quartet. Two of them Cloud had already seen, both of them the girls who'd first grabbed hold of Leon and him. The other two were just boys, blonde and cheerful and... _Obnoxious looking_.

"You've already met Selphie and Rikku. There's Zidane and Tidus. And that's all for introductions. You can talk later. After we've ditched the peasants armed with torches and pitchforks who are out to hunt you down."

"What?! Where?!"

Not another word leaving her mouth, Paine turned and strode back towards the caravan where her four assembled crew members scattered about like mad, throwing strewn luggage back into and on top of the tiny wooden caravan, Rikku prancing over towards a nearby fencepost where a chocobo stood lazily, relaxing in the warm Olympus sun. But sure enough, Cloud was drawing some pretty strange looks... and not of the good kind, either.

Suddenly, a warm hand dropped onto his shoulder and Cloud was jerked back into the present as Leon forcefully steered him towards the curtain entrance of the caravan where Cloud clambered in and promptly scrunched himself into a little ball and tucked himself in a corner. Bags, boxes, bottles, crates, colors scarves and flags... all of it was scattered about the caravan, leaving little room for Cloud, let alone Leon. What had been a tight squeeze for Rikku and Paine was undoubtedly a suffocating vacuum-seal for Leon and Cloud.

While each stared the other down in a deadly silent contest of some sort or another, noise from outside trickled into the caravan through the closed curtain.

"Come on Rikku, we don't have all day..."

"I'm _trying_!"

"Kweh, kweh!"

"Tidus, lend her hand already, would you?!"

"Alright, alright! Calm down already!"

"Hey, watch it!"

"Outta the way, mister!"

Wheels shuddering beneath the wooden frame surrounding them, Leon and Cloud felt the caravan jolt forward and bump steadily alone the uneven dirt square of Olympus. Still, they remained silent and still more noise filtered through.

"I said move out of--"

"Cool it, would you??"

"I just wanted to--"

_ There's the ocean, you can kiss it. Lean down, boy, it won't bite. The only thing the water holds is sirens and the only thing the sirens hold is you. Let's go to--_

"Someone wants me to go there."

Startled out of the silence, Leon blinked for a moment before staring blankly at Cloud. "Excuse me?"

"The voices. ...Someone wants me to go to the ocean."

Studying Cloud with a careful gaze, Leon nodded slowly. There was a mutual understanding between the two of them that overall, Leon was the one with all the information. He was the one who would be doing the giving and taking and... well, the thought somewhat annoyed Cloud. Somewhat. _But for some crazy bizarre-o reason, I'd rather just put up with the jackass and find out what the hell's going on... instead of..._

_ You don't want to have to listen to his orders. You don't have to._

"How much do you know about the queen's Militia?" Leon questioned, leaning back against the wooden wall surrounding them. If the close quarters bothered him in the slightest, he didn't show it.

"Umm... Well... Maleficent set 'em up when she was Duchess of Bastion. ...But... that was ten years ago. They're a bunch of really good fighters. At first they were nominated by the people and served as a sort of goal for kids who didn't have much of a future. But Maleficent changed it into a training program after a couple years of that... she overthrew the king..." Cloud trailed off, his brows furrowing as he concentrated on remembering the general information he'd overheard as a kid.

"Is that all?"

With a shrug, Cloud lamely added, "It's not as though _serfs_ are taught about this sorta stuff in school or anything."

Leon paused a moment then nodded just once. "You're right. Sorry."

_Did he just say he was...?_

Silence. And then Leon began to talk...

"The paopu fields have been around for a long time. You know that. Mostly the fruit was used for manufacturing medicine, tea, and food. About a century ago, a scientist published a theory about using the fruit juice as a sort of... fuel. He said it would replace manual labor and coal that was used to operate machines like ships and factories. At first everyone mocked him and thought it was some huge joke... But obviously he was correct in his thoughts.

"So once people saw that the fruit could be used for more than just simple homey pleasures, more and more of the fields kept--"

"I know this stuff," Cloud interrupted, his voice short and his eyes narrowed. "I grew up on the fields, man. I think I at least know the basic history of it all."

"Do you know where all the fruit is going now? Why it's being harvested and carted off five times as rapidly as it has been in the past years?"

Cloud's gaze dropped to the floor and he fell silent. Taking it as his cue to continue, Leon let out a small sigh and started off again, though his voice was already becoming quieter and rougher, not quite accustomed to being used so much in one sitting, probably.

"With the paopu fruit to make every sort of work easier, there was a sort of... industrial revolution, I guess. Everyone doesn't have to worry as much about getting work done now as they used to..." With one short glance at Cloud's slouched figure, Leon quietly added, "Everyone except the serfs, that is.

"Art, writing, alchemy... it's all being revolutionized right now. But Maleficent doesn't care about petty things like that. She's sent out a team of archeologists to a dig site about five miles from her old home at the Hollow Bastion Citadel. No one really knows what she thinks is there, but no one complains either. With the paopu juice making life easier for everyone, they're all happy and oblivious to everything."

"How does this tie in with me?" Cloud grumbled.

"Astrology."

"Never studied it. Nothing to do with me."

"That's where you're wrong. Swarms of scientists that aren't dedicating themselves to more accepted and believable practices are involved in astrology...." _What do I want to tell him..? ...What **can** I tell him that he'll believe? _"Do you remember that story you told me about the paopu fruit? How every two people m-meant to be with each other s-share a star?"

Cloud stole a look at Leon, though his gaze wasn't met. Leon's eyes were focused on the curtain of the caravan, billowing slightly in a light breeze coming in from outside. Did Leon not notice his stutter? Sure seemed a little--

"They believe it."

"Who does?"

"The astrologers. Or most of them at any rate. And by certain patterns in the constellations, they say they can determine a person's destiny."

"That's bullshit."

"Maleficent doesn't think so. It's why she's sent out this whole expedition. She's told it's her destiny."

That did it.

"What the fuck are you talking about?! What expedition?? What does any of this have to do with me??" Frustrated and sore from being jostled around the tiny wooden prison, Cloud leapt to his feet and promptly cracked the back of his skull against the roof. And with a small little whine, Cloud crumpled right back down to the floor, cradling his head between his two arms, his face hidden from view.

_Now look what he's made you do, boy. Feel the pain? See how it ties into all this? Why don't you just leave? Why are you staying with him? He tells you nothing. What he does tell you comes out in riddles. He will never be capable of telling you a truly plain and simple fact. You don't have to--_

_ Stop... Leave me alone..._

_ Why do you stay with him, boy?_

_ I don't know... I don't know..._

"Cloud..." The voice pulled him away from himself and it was then that Cloud realized he was crying. _What a stupid little kid... I don't even... know... why..._ "...Are you okay?" Leon's hand gently brushed against his shoulder and had Cloud not seen and heard all the things he had that day, he wouldn't pulled away from the incredibly out of character act. ...But then again, what did Cloud really know about Leon? Perhaps it wasn't as strange as he made it out to be after all...

"What does any of it have to do with me..?"

"..."

"Why am I hearing these things?"

There were no words and there was no sound. But Leon didn't move his hand and Cloud didn't raise his head.

"...You know, don't you?"

They had reached a stalemate, it seemed.

"...Why can't you just tell me?"

_Why can't I leave?!_

And it looked as though Leon didn't have all the answers and all the power. It looked as though he was almost as confused as Cloud himself. Because really, the only difference between the confused and the knowledgeable is how well they can act.

x x x

"Seifer."

"Yes, Highness?"

"I need you to do something for me... There's a book. An old man has it... a wizard. Get it. Bring it to me."

"Right away, Highness."

The orb in the center of the room flared to life, a hazy image appearing in its very center, its glow casting across the sharp plains of a woman's face, mouth twisted into an amused grin as she watched on.

One blonde, one brunette, locked away in the tiny confines of a little wagon. How quaint.

"Mm... you hear him, don't you, boy? Now what will you do when your darkness takes its form?... I wonder..."

x x x

"You better not be leading us on, Lionheart."

"...Hn."

"I'm serious. You do that and you won't wake up. Understand?"

"Of course."

"And you're sure he's the one?"

"...Yes."

"You'd better hope so. Not just for your sake either."

"I know."

The first thing Cloud's sleep-fogged mind noticed was that the caravan had stopped moving. Through eyes half open, he could see moonlight seeping through the delicate curtain, shadows moving back and forth across his vision as figures from outside moved around, their actions muffled and their voices distant.

The second thing Cloud noticed was that Leon was gone. And it was cold.

_You see? He will not stay with you. Not like you stay with him. He will leave you, boy. He will leave you cold and alone. He will leave you to die. _

_ Stop..._

_ He is not worth your time. He is not worth **you**, boy._

_ Go away..._

Somewhere between the focus he put on banishing the voice and the tired mist that covered his brain, Cloud was aware of another shadow dancing just beneath his closed eyelids, the creaking of the floorboards of the caravan as someone entered.

_It's __Leon_

_ How can you be so sure, boy?_

_ I just **am**. Now stop it. Go away._

"Cloud, are you awake?" The deep whisper pulled at Cloud's heartstrings, but he kept quiet and he kept his eyes shut tight, intent on slowing his breathing down to make all appear as though he were still fast asleep. Sure enough, it seemed to work. Leon fell silent and the only noise Cloud could hear within the caravan was the quiet rustle of fabric. From outside, quiet voices conversed back and forth with one another, but who they belonged to Cloud couldn't tell.

It was the sudden feeling of warmth that slammed against his back that nearly sent Cloud flying smack against the wall of the dinky caravan. _Is that __Leon__? But what--??_

No contact. No nothing. Just simply heat radiating. It was what heat did. _So why am I so freaked out about it?_

But whatever obnoxious little voice had been pestering him had no answer.

_Warm..._

Leon smiled slightly as Cloud's body relaxed and finally drifted off into slumber once more. He wouldn't push his luck and he wouldn't reach out and ask for more. Leon was content just lying there and knowing that the other was safe only a few inches away. Lying there and breathing in this crazy-addictive aroma... Was it Cloud? The smaller boy smelled quite lovely, actually. Something close to fruity, mixed with sweetness, just a dash of tartness. Like a paopu fruit?

Leon didn't know.

He'd have to ask Cloud what a paopu fruit smelled like.

_And what it felt like and what it tasted like..._

_ Later. Sleep now._

(x) (x) (x)

Aww. Wasn't that just warm and fuzzy all over? I hope you have a lot of questions from this chapter. I hope you're confused as hell, too. Nyahaha. ...Ha. Right. Um. I haven't forgotten this fic, obviously. It's just second on my list of priorities now. But what can I say? Angsty Cloud wanted attention. So he got it.

--Ori


	3. Giants Big and Small

**Lucky Thirteen**

'Giants Big and Small'

_Cloud stood amidst a crowd of wild and cheering fans from all reaches of the kingdom. Since when had he gotten a fan club? _

_ Oh yeah. Since..._

_ "And whence he comes and whither he goes, nobody cares and nobody knows..."_

_ It was the same icy voice Cloud had been hearing lately. It was the same voice that had haunted hours of both night and day, seeping into the corners of his mind that were just out of reach; the ones he couldn't control. And now it was there once again as he stood behind the podium and looked out at the thousands of people milling before him, shouting his name and cheering his praises, loud enough for all the world to hear._

_ "For never since time began.."_

_ "Stop..." Cloud hissed between clenched teeth, careful to not let his discomfort show towards the surrounding people. For them there was no mountain Cloud could not move, no feat he could not perform. They did not need to think their savior was losing his mind..._

_ "Has this little boy ever been seen."_

_ Cloud had heard those words somewhere before, somewhere long ago in a childhood he couldn't remember. All he could draw up was the warmth of a fire and the rosy glow of his mother's face as she sat at his bedside and smiled down at him, lulling him to sleep with..._

_ The dream changed. No longer was Cloud **remembering** his childhood. He was back **in** it. He was there, tucked up in bed, safely under the covers with his mother watching over him, speaking to him in her quiet and soothing voice..._

_ "But he was not always cruel, you see. When the little children of the city grew sick and burned with fevers, burning so hot that each day they though for sure that they would die... Then the big giant took pity on the suffering of the children and he gently pulled the mountain breeze down from its home among the peaks, sending it along its way, up towards the windows of the sick so it might cool their fevered brows."_

_ Cloud smiled, happy and content. He snuggled deeper into the warmth of the sheets and everything was far away. He was walking carefully along the line of consciousness, the only tie holding him to the present world being that of his mother's gentle voice. _

_ But then he saw the shadows from the corner of the room._

_ "And whence he comes and whither he goes..." said the new voice, ice cold and sharp as steel. _

_ His mother stopped mid-sentence and turned slowly around, her face a mask of cool, calm, and collected nature. A deep soothing hum swelled from low in her throat as her slender hand fell delicately on Cloud's shoulder as he jolted fully awake to stare at the demon, eyes wide with horror._

_ There was a metallic click, followed by the sound of a flawless blade being unsheathed, shredding the blanket of calm that Cloud clung to so desperately with that one effortless act. There was a silence so loud that Cloud felt his head would burst and his eardrums shatter painfully in only a second. _

_ But it was only a second before it was all over._

_ With one graceful motion, with one glint of steel in the firelight, the blade rose and fell only once, deathly quick and wickedly sharp as it sliced through the air with such a howl that the air itself must have been hollering a death cry. And there was blood and there was warmth. And there was a weight that fell from the bed with no noise. _

_ And there was Cloud, staring ahead with an expressionless face._

_ "Nobody cares and nobody knows."_

"Hey." There was something pulling at him insescently...

"Hey." It wouldn't go away... But there was some sort of feeling rising up in the backwoods of Cloud's conscious mind that told him that he didn't want it to go away. Not just yet at any rate...

"Wake up," Leon whispered, tugging once more at Cloud's sleeve and peering cautiously down at the sleeping blonde. He'd learned from his earlier sleeping experience that Cloud was an... 'interesting' sleeper. Actually, 'hazardous' might have been the more appropriate word. In all his dreaming and in all his slumber, Cloud had nearly managed to give poor Leon a bloodied nose and a black eye.

...But then again, what Cloud didn't know wouldn't hurt him. And Leon couldn't help but instantly forget all the ("What the...?" "Nyuuuuuu..." "OWW! FUCK!" "Favuu..." "Cloud! What the hell are you?") pain as Cloud's eyes fluttered open and he rubbed at them groggily, muttering a few very coherent words in the process.

Words like... "Nnnyazzlefaph... vah?"

"...You're not awake."

"Nuu."

"Well wake up."

"Nn'ven uh pluz..."

"...What?"

Stretching his mouth into a shape so long it could almost be considered grotesque, Cloud let out a giant yawn. He took his sweet time, cocking his head to the left, then to the right. He opened and closed his mouth a few more times, blinked rapidly, and then finally allowed his gaze to fall on the rather puzzled Leon who crouched beside him.

"Not even a 'please,'" Cloud clarified.

"Please."

"Ttnkoo." And in that one half-second, Leon's hopes for Cloud being fully awake pretty much vanished, for Cloud simply flopped right back onto the floor, rolling himself into a wee little ball and turning towards the wall. Narrowing his eyes slightly, Leon drew his mouth into a thin line and slowly reached out...

_ Freezing cold fingers on neck! Holy crap!_

"**_Hyaaah_** What're you _doing_, Leon?"

"Waking you up. Now come on."

Without much further explanation, Leon lead the stumbling, bumbling, mumbling Cloud out of the caravan. Zidane and Tidus were the only members of the little escort party that Cloud could see, the smaller boys standing off to the corner of the clearing, stroking the neck of the chocobo and smiling softly. Very cute.

Yes, very cute, but Cloud didn't pay much attention.

"Where are we going? Why are we stopped? What am I doing here? Who are-"

"I should've left you in the caravan," Leon muttered, striking off into the woods, Cloud right behind him. After another moment and after a slightly pained expression (which Cloud also missed) Leon then murmured a hurried, "Sorry."

"...Were you always this nice to me, or did someone spike your water supply?"

"Thank you. I assure you, your faith in me in greatly appreciated."

The woods around then seemed to move, twist shape, and change as Cloud and Leon proceeded. Having no idea where they were or what they were doing, all Cloud could do was tag blindly along and blink curiously at the towering trees.

"Don't mention..." Cloud started... and then he saw... "...it..."

Leon had led Cloud to a large open clearing, set on the very top of an equally large cliff and overlooking the entire forest. Fireflies milled gently around, only visible during the moments in which they chose to shine their light for the rest of the world to see, blinking here then there, going about as they pleased. Waterfalls, valleys, meadows, and woods, Cloud could see it all. There wasn't a definite horizon line between earth and sky. Instead, the two simply met somewhere at the farthest reaches of Cloud's vision and melded together, deep blue-green giving way to the darkest midnight blue, speckled with nothing short of the brightest stars. The brightest stars that dusted the entire sky, from on end to the other...

Leon's own gaze was rooted to the scenery around them, hands tucked in his pockets and a small smile threatening to pull at the corners of his mouth. "...Beautiful, isn't it?"

"Woooow. I mean... just..." Rather than fighting that little smile as Leon did, Cloud simply gave in, letting an enormous grin spread across his face. "Wow. Is this what you brought me out for? To show me this?" A small nod from Leon was all Cloud needed before he playfully rocked back and forth on his feet, nudging Leon and grinning even wider. "...Thanks."

"Hn." Leon watched as Cloud walked to the very edge of the cliff and plopped down, swinging his legs over the wide and letting them dangle in thin air. He watched... and tried very hard not to have a heart attack. "What was it you said? Don't mention it?"

"Yeah, that was it!"

"Well then, don't mention it."

"I won't." Cloud returned to looking at the sky as Leon sat down beside him, though the other man didn't take the pleasure and swinging his feet back and forth over the cliff-side. "Where'd the others go? Are they somewhere out around here too?"

"They had to meet up with someone. Zidane and Tidus are still back with the chocobo..."

"...You never see stuff like this back at Destati." Cloud's voice was barely audible and his attention clearly wasn't residing with the traveling crew that had hauled him all the way out there. It was like nothing he'd ever seen, to say the very least. All the colors and all the night noises (tree limbs creaking, leaves rustling in the wind, insects humming, animals sighing, birds chirping quietly...)

"What do you see?"

"Hm?"

"At... Destati. ...What do you see when you look out your window at night there?"

"...Well... You can see the city. Not all of it. Only a few buildings. Sometimes you can see through the windows, if people don't have their curtains shut. ...You can see some pretty interesting things that way..." Cloud let out an amused little chuckle, thinking back, but not really dwindling in the memories long. "You can see the tops of the trees from the paopu fields... They're all in rows. They're all the same size." With a sigh, he shook his head and sat up to glance at Leon as he said, "There's nothing beautiful about that place."

Leon just nodded, only once. The two sat side by side for some time before Cloud's curiosity finally peaked his interest. "What about you?" he prodded.

"What about me?"

"You know a lot about me. So..." Really, Cloud found it unnerving that Leon knew so much about him. It was just plain weird. So perhaps he figured that it would be nothing short of fair if the playing ground was leveled a bit. The only thing was, Leon didn't exactly read like an open book... "Okay. Instead of giving me a whole biography, since I **know** you won't wanna do that, you can just tell me what you can see from _your_ window."

Leon blinked and simply stared at Cloud blankly for a moment.

"I don't have a window."

"...Eh?" "Well of course you have a- Honestly Leon. Where do you live, then? What does it look like?"

"I don't live anywhere. I go where I'm-" Frowning slightly, Leon shook his head, rephrased his words, and continued. "That is... I used to go where I was told."

Cloud grinned, poking Leon on the shoulder playfully and chirping, "But not anymore, remember?"

"Mm. I remember." Fingers straying towards the bed of grass spread out beneath them, Leon tugged a single blade of grass free, winding it around between his fingers lazily.

"...Okay then... Where do you want to live? You're done dealing with the whole bounty-hunting business. You can have a home _and _a window now!" At this, even Leon had to chuckle and that one little action made Cloud glow with pride, having gotten such a reaction from so stoic an individual. "So where'll it be?"

"I think... I think it might be somewhere by the ocean. So I can make sure you don't walk in and drown yourself by accident."

"Ha, ha. Very funny. Jackass. I'm serious."

"So am I. I do want to live by the ocean." The thin blade of grass braided in and around Leon's fingers finally snapped, pulled too taunt and wound too much around and around. Brushing the tattered remains of the grass from his lap, Leon shrugged. "Think about it. Waking up to hear waves breaking over rocks, smelling that air and feeling that breeze... You could look out your window and see nothing but clear sky stretching for miles and miles... You could watch the sunrise..."

"There'd be seagulls, right?"

"Of course."

"And they wouldn't be the annoying kind. They'd be the nice kind of seagulls. The kind that just fly around in lazy loopy circles and remind you of where you are."

"Right."

"What about the city? With the music and the noise... You could stay out and party all night long, sleep all day, wake up, and do it all over again. What about that?"

"Do I honestly strike you as someone who would enjoy partying all night long?"

"...Point taken. So what _do_ you enjoy?"

Leon raised an eyebrow at Cloud, leaning back on his hands and glancing at him for a moment before focusing back on the night sky again. "I thought you weren't going to ask for a biography."

"It's not a fucking biography, man. Just a few stupid questions."

"You really do have quite the colorful language going on there."

"Hell yeah! And I'm proud of it."

"Do all serfs talk like that?" Leon plucked yet another long blade of grass, twining it around and between his fingers while Cloud talked, the blonde boy tugging his legs back from over the edge of the cliff, pulling them towards his chest and resting his chin on his knees. Dirt dusted the bottom of his pants, but Cloud prattled along, perfectly oblivious.

"Nah, of course not. But I got it from my uncle, ya know. He always talked like that. And since my mum and dad kicked the bucket when I was just really little, he raised me." Cloud grinned for a moment, but it quickly dissipated into a frown only half a second later. ...Right after he'd had time to actually think about the whole thing. "...Come to think of it, he did a really lousy job of it, but oh well. Cid tried."

"...Cid?"

"Yeah, my uncle. Cid." Cocking his head to the side, Cloud seemed to be meandering along the familiar road known as Memory Lane, bumping into old Uncle Cid by pure coincidence along the way. "...He disappeared a while ago. Hades' goofballs just showed up one day and hauled him off. But that was when I was ten or-"

"Eleven."

"...Yeah. ...How'd you know that?"

"...Lucky guess, I suppose."

"...Lucky my ass. You and your secrets. You can just take 'em and... and... Oh fuck, I don't know."

Leon smiled slightly, loosening his hold on the lone blade of grass and watching as a light breeze carried it up and over the cliff. Spiraling downwards, it quickly disappeared from view as Leon let out a small sigh.

"How about I make you a deal?" he started.

Cloud raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms. "...Shoot. What is it?"

"You ask me one question... anything at all. I'll answer it completely and truthfully. Alright?"

Cloud frowned, disappointed by the idea of only getting to ask _one_ question. But still. Something was always better than nothing, right?

"...What were you doing down by Destati if you're through with bounty hunting?"

"...Ah..." Of course he had to ask _that _question. "...I... had... failed..." Leon's glance drifted back and forth between the ground and the sky. Obviously it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that he was getting just a wee bit nervous... "...at this last mission. I... didn't bring the girl Maleficent had asked for back to her."

Cloud grinned, elbowing the brunette playfully and giggling. "...Oh? Leon, you sex fiend. I had no idea."

"I let her go, Cloud. I didn't rape her."

"Why'd you let her go?"

"You already asked your question."

"But you didn't finish answering it! You promised you would answer it completely. That hardly tells me anything." Glaring icily, Cloud once again crossed his arms, pouty, prickly, and pissed off as all get out.

Leon smirked, leaning back on his arms as he calmly stated, "...If you really have to know, the girl was involved with an underground organization intent on ending the use of paopu-powered fuel and liberating the serf camps all over the kingdom. Maleficent wanted to put a stop to it before it got out of hand."

"...Are you serious?"

"Mmhm."

"Why haven't **I** ever heard about it?"

At this, Leon's smug look was replaced by one more serious as he leaned forward, staring off into the vast expanse of forest below. "Because they haven't done anything yet. My guess is that they're still planning." Trailing off for a moment, Leon allowed silence to hang in the air just briefly before continuing. "...I met this girl. I think she plans on striking once and only once and ending it all for good."

Both sat in thoughtful silence once more. It was... calming. Relaxing. Peaceful. And then...

"Oooh, Leon's got a little _crush_."

"..."

"...Hey man, ease up. I was just joking, okay?"

"Sorry."

"You don't have to apologize every time something goes all weird and awkward. It's not your fault or anything." Taking in a deep breath of air, Cloud let it all back out once more in a huge sigh, slumping his shoulders and picking up the metaphorical crowbar to once again try and crack Leon open for some info. "So this girl. Was she cute? Will you at least tell me that much?"

Leon scowled, shaking his head just once. "...You've asked more than just one question and I've still answered. It's my turn to ask you a question."

"Ugh, you gotta be **kidding** me. You already know practically _everything_ anyway."

"No I don't."

"Yeah, well, whatever. You sure as hell seem like you do," Cloud replied flippantly, waving one hand lazily about in the air as he crossed one leg over another. For such a relaxing place, the forest sure seemed to make Cloud _jittery_.

"...Assuming for a moment that you believed in soul-mates and you believed in legends and myths..." Leon began, cocking his head to the side. "Who would you share a paopu fruit with?"

Cloud blinked stupidly, mouth hanging open, looking quite similar to those dead fish you can find in most marketplaces. Questions like... _What was that? What's going on? What's he getting at? What the hell? Huh? What? EH? _...Yes, all these questions zipped through his head in the span of about half a second. Finally, he formulated a response.

"...I..."

"Leeeeeeon! Cloooooooud!"

Jolting forward, Cloud nearly went flying off the cliff. Thankfully, he was too busy snapping his head around towards the voice to notice that poor Leon's face had taken on the complexity of a piece of chalk. Stupid, stupid Cloud.

"Helloooooooo!"

"We're over here, Zidane!" Leon shouted towards the woods. Moments later, the smaller boy burst through the dense copse of trees, a grin stretching across his face and his hands tucked in his pockets.

"There you are!" He bounced over towards the other two, weird little monkey tail fanning out behind him as he did so. Cloud still hadn't figured out what horrid pairing had occurred for that tail to end up there, but frankly, he wasn't sure he ever wanted to figure it out in the first place... "For a second there, I thought you'd both disappeared on us. Paine should be back any minute with Wakka. She'll want you there the second she's back, or else she'll flip. You know how she is."

After a moment, even Zidane started picking something up and he blinked twice, glancing back and forth between Cloud and Leon."...I wasn't interrupting anything, was I?"

"Not at all." Leon brushed the question off and turned to Cloud, his voice losing that surreal sort of thoughtful air to it and reverting back to cold hard stone. "Come on Cloud, we'd better head back."

"...Can I stay here for just another minute? I'll be right there."

"...No escape attempts or anything? You promise?"

"Yeah, I promise. Sheesh. You'd think I was a freaking _con_-artist or something."

"Sometimes you can't tell."

Cloud rolled his eyes dramatically and let out a snort. "I think that would be the **point**, Leon."

Leon smirked and turned to go, but still couldn't stop from hesitating slightly at the forest's edge. Turning back to Cloud for a moment, he said, "If you decide to walk around a little farther into the woods... well, don't. It may look safe and sweet, but you can't be too sure. Just stay put if you're going to be out here and come straight back when you've decided you're done sitting around. Or thinking. Or singing. Or whatever it is you're planning on doing."

"Thanks, Leon. Hehe, I didn't think you trusted me."

"Why wouldn't I trust you?"

"...Ah... well... How the hell should I know?" Cloud snapped, scowling moodily. Why was it that Leon always got to ask the questions?

"Whatever." Finally heading off back towards the caravan, Leon threw one last glance and one last suggestion over his shoulder. "Don't stay out too long. Paine will go absolutely insane if she finds out that I let you out of my sight."

"...You still haven't explained all this to me, ya know!"

"I'll get there."

x x x

"At last may I upon this shore lighten my sorrow with soft tears. Alas, alas, I see no more my love, who yet my sadness cheers."

_Huh... What? ...OH SHIT! I must've fallen asleep!_

"And thou, oh raging, stormy sea, stirred by wild winds, from depth to height, thou holds my loved one far from me, and I am captive to thy might."

Cloud's eyes snapped wide open as he jolted upright, glancing left, right, up, and down before coming to the happy conclusion that he was actually awake and not locked in some disturbing dream world. ...But... if it _was_ reality, then what was with the dumb rhyming voice?

"Hello?" Cloud pulled himself up to his feet, turning towards the woods and calling out again, "Is somebody there?"

Sure enough, someone was.

"My heart is still more wild than thine, for fate is cruel unto me. Why must I thus in exile pine? Why was my princess snatched from me?"

Draped leisurely over one of the many thick tree branches stretching up towards the sky was a... well... Cloud cocked his head to the side and scuttled forward a few feet, trying to get a better look. It was a... weird sort of... blue-ish kind of... monkey-critter.

"Excuse me! Hello!" Cloud waved both arms, trying to get the little monkey's attention. "Um... excuse me, but-"

"Oh lovely nymphs, from ocean caves, who know how sweet true love may be... come up and calm the furious waves and set a desperate lover free!" The little critter's eyes were shut tight, mind seemingly tripping off somewhere, lost in focus as words came tumbling out in a high-pitched garble.

"HEY!" Cloud was practically screaming at the top of his lungs and he couldn't help but wonder if he was going every so slightly insane. After all, he was about to ask the monkey for... "Do you know where the others are? I mean... this caravan thingy? Full of people? This uh... sorta tall brown haired guy? He has a little scar right..." Cloud poked the bridge of his nose with his index finger and drew it down towards his cheek by an inch or so, "here. And there's these other guys who-"

It was all Cloud could do to keep from letting out a girly little shriek as the monkey-thing leapt from the tree branch and landed nimbly on the ground in front of him. The actual height of the creature must have been no more than three feet, but it crouched low to the ground on all fours, making it only come up to Cloud's knees as it regarded him with beady little black eyes.

"Fallen into the fire, and so will you. On little Cloudykin! Tum-pa, tum-too!"

"...Cloudykin? What the!"

Skittering in circles around Cloud, the little blue 'monkey' chirped off rhymes one right after another.

"Beware, beware for danger is near, and those must feel who will not hear!"

"...Okay. I can see you're not going to be of much help." Cloud glared at the stupid creature and crossed his arms for what felt like the millionth time that night, regarding the monkey with a dark stare. "...So you don't know where Leon is?"

"Cut him from his arms forever, bury him in the rippling river."

"Never mind! Forget I asked!" Letting out an exasperated sigh, Cloud started in towards the woods, leaves crunching under his feet as he walked along. He knew that Leon was back at the caravan, most likely. The problem was just remembering where the caravan was. And the more he seemed to head in one direction, the more he seemed to get turned around... and even though it seemed as though he'd only walked three feet, it looked as though he'd long since left the clearing and cliff-face behind.

...That... had to be a bad thing.

But at least the monkey fellow hadn't followed him.

Cloud whined and came to a halt in the middle of the dark woods, the only light being the small patches of silver moonlight that managed to filter through the dense layers of leaves and branches above him. "...Where the hell did he go...?"

Though he'd been able to stifle his girly little shriek earlier, Cloud was unable to keep a howl of fright and surprise from getting away from him as a familiar little blue animal swung down out of the forest canopy, a broad grin on its smooth and alien-like face, sharp, pointy little teeth glowing white in the darkness.

"And whence he comes and whither he goes, nobody cares and nobody knows. For never since time began, I ween, has this little boy ever been seen!"

Eyes widening in shock, Cloud had to struggled to keep his voice from stuttering as he hissed, "Would you just **shut up** for a minute! I'm **lost**!" _How did... how did it...? That rhyme... It was..._

Grin snapping into a tiny pout, the little blue monkey swung up into the branches for a split second before falling back down into view, dangling from a tree branch by its tail. The creature threw a small twig towards Cloud, successfully whacking him in the head and shrilly crying, "Whoever can this trumpet blow, shall cause the giant's overthrow!"

Cloud glared, crushing the twig on the ground under his boot. "...Well aren't you clever. Idiot." Much to his surprise, the monkey's eyes widened for a moment before it clambered back up onto the tree branch, regarding him with a very pitiful little stare that made Cloud's heart ache with guilt. "...Listen, I'm sorry. You're not an idiot. I am. I'm just lost, okay? I don't know where I am or what I'm doing here... And I think I'm losing my mind. I... fell asleep over-"

And lo the monkey proved to be severely bipolar as its sad little gaze turned into one brimming with rage. Breaking another larger, thicker, and possibly quite harmful branch from the nearest tree, the monkey swung it back and forth through the air and hollered, "Though here you lodge with me this night, you shall not see the morning light! My club shall dash your brains out quite!"

Cloud's hands flung up in front of him defensively as he backed away a few steps. The thing may just have been a monkey, but even serfs learned to avoid menacing kinds of folks wielding big sticks. "W-W-Well, I didn't really fall asleep, buddy, I just-"

The monkey's voice took on a mocking tone, if one could really say that monkeys had tones. "Once upon a time when pigs spoke rhyme and monkeys chewed tobacco, and hens took snuff to make them tough and ducks went quack, quack, _quack-o_!"

"I'm not crazy, if that's what you're saying! You... you... you furry blue little _furball_!"

The monkey-like-thing seemed to bristle with rage, brandishing the tree branch in one hand and shaking the other in an angry little fist. "Well, come along! I've got two spears, and I'll poke your eyeballs out at your ears; I've got besides two curling-stones, and I'll crush you to bits, body and bones!"

With that, the monkey attacked.

_CRASH.__ WHACK. BANG._

"OWW! AGGGHH! Get off me, you fucking hell-monkey!"

When Leon entered the scene he was greeted by a cursing Cloud who appeared to be wearing a rather ornate fur cap. Granted, when the fur cap started pulling Cloud's hair and biting his arm, even Leon couldn't deny that that cap was no ordinary cap. ...Indeed, it was just far from a cap period.

"Cloud!"

"LEON!" Flinging his arms to his sides and whirling around, Cloud managed to shake the confused little beast out of its blood-thirsty state as he bounded towards the other boy. "I found you!"

"Actually, **I** found **you**. And **you** are in deep shit."

"Oh no..."

"...What's that on your head?"

"I found it!"

"You mean it found you?"

"Shut up." Reaching upwards, Cloud took advantage of the monkey's momentary calmness and promptly pried the creature off his head and dropped it smack dab onto the forest floor with a dull thud. "It won't stop babbling _nonsense_. I don't think it even understands what I'm saying. Or if it does, it sure is a bitchy little-"

"Don't wake the stork, for frogs he doth kill: the danger that sleeps is a danger still." Both Leon and Cloud turned to look down at the little blue furred monkey which peered curiously up at them in return. The angry glint was gone from its eyes, instead replaced with... some sort of emotion Cloud just couldn't quite categorize.

"...It's a nix-spirit."

"A whatiewhat?"

"Nix-spirit," Leon repeated, crouching down until he was at eye level with the little monkey-like animal. "Take a look Cloud. This is Maleficent's finest work."

"...That thing? Wow." For all that she was the self-appointed queen of Coerion and everything, her 'finest work' sure didn't seem too fine. Cloud glanced at Leon. ... Cloud glanced at the nix-spirit. After a moment he said, "...Uh... Okay, if there's something significant about all this, I'm definitely missing it. Clarification?"

"It's a human."

"..." Both Cloud's eyebrows shot up and he crouched down beside his decidedly crazy companion. "Leon. Leon, look at me." Placing both hands on either side of Leon's head, Cloud pretty much _forced_ Leon to look at him as he said, "Now I want you to look me in the eyes and repeat what you just said. Think _very carefully_ about it."

"It's. A. Human."

"...Yep. You've lost it. Paine! _Paaa-aaaine_!"

"Cloud, shut up." Leon shook his head slowly and let out a weary sigh. "She used to be a human, at any rate."

"It's a she? ...How can you tell?"

"I can't. But she looks like a girl, doesn't she?" Personally, Cloud failed to see the apparently obvious gender signs of the nix-spirit, but if Leon said so... "One of Maleficent's most powerful little tricks is turning humans into nix-spirits. She doesn't do it often, because if word leaked out of what she did, there's no doubt that people would panic and rebel and it'd just be a huge mess. So she just reserves the special little treat for serious enemies or the most bothersome of all annoyances."

Reaching out towards the nix-spirit, Leon brushed his fingertips cautiously over the soft fur of her head and murmured, "I wonder which you were..."

"So what exactly _are_ nix-spirits?" "I mean, okay, so she used to be a... girl, but...?"

"They have a nature related to pixies and nymphs, hence the 'nix' in their name. But for as long as they're under Maleficent's spell, all they speak in are rhymes and riddles. Even if they have something important to say, they're stuck beating around the bush with confusing phrases and jumbled nonsense."

"...Poor thing." The nix-spirit let out a little growl as she glared icily up at Cloud. It only took one beating from a three-foot-tall menace for Cloud to learn his lesson though, and he quickly corrected himself. "Girl, I mean. Poor girl." Looking back towards Leon, Cloud frowned slightly and added, "...But wait. So there's a way to break the spell?"

"Only Maleficent would know that."

"..." Cloud couldn't help but once again feel that horrid pang of guilt as he regarded the small blue nix-spirit standing in front of Leon. There had to be some way, some antidote... There had to be _something_. "...Isn't there anything we can do?"

"Treat her with respect and try to understand the information she's given us. What exactly was it that she said to you?"

"...Um... I uh..." _If I told him all that, he'd only get worried. Plus I'd have to tell him about the rhyme I heard in my dream... Then I'd have to tell him about the actual dream... No way. _"Not much. I mean, something about chickens and monkeys on drugs. And that's really about it."

"Are you sure?"

Cloud nodded firmly, trying to convince his conscience that he did the right thing. Rubbing his arms absentmindedly, Cloud frowned slightly and regarded the nix-spirit once again. How could they just get up a abandon her? After all she'd been through? "Can we bring her with us?"

"You don't even know where we're going." Leon tried to make his voice condoning, but really, he couldn't help but keep the amusement from shining through. Yeah, it frustrated him. ...But not _that_ much.

"No I don't, but from what I've gathered, this whole thing has to do with Maleficent. And if that's the case then maybe we can help her..."

"...We don't have time." Standing up and dusting the dirt from his knees, Leon gave the small nix-spirit an apologetic look before turning back to Cloud, who looked just as upset, if not more so, than the nix-spirit herself. "I'm sorry. We're in enough trouble as it is since you wandered off. Why didn't you stay where I told you to?"

"I fell asleep! It wasn't my..." _Oops._ "Ugh, I _didn't_ fall asleep. I just sort of... zonked out."

"So you passed out?"

"No. _Girls_ pass out. I _zonked_ out."

"Oh, right. Because there's such a difference."

"Exactly. But when I woke up, the forest looked different so I was just... really lost."

"Well that _is_ why I told you to stay put." Shaking his head, Leon closed his eyes and massaged his temples with the tips of his index fingers. All this chaos really brewed up a wicked headache... "Listen, we really have to get a move on."

"Alright..." Cloud knelt down in front of the nix-spirit who scowled moodily at him, clearly still angry about the whole name-calling incident. For clearly, she wasn't really a furball or anything. "Hey listen, I hope you find a way to break the nasty spell thing. And I'm sorry I kept calling you an it. You're a very pretty girl, you know," Cloud stated with a little smile.

Seeming satisfied enough by that, the nix-spirit bounced away towards the nearest tree, scampering up its trunk with startling speed and ease before once again making herself at home and perching on a thick branch.

"Haste, valiant stranger, haste away, lest you become the giant's prey. On his return he'll bring another still more savage than his brother: a horrid, cruel monster, who, before he kills, will torture you. Oh valiant stranger! Haste away, or you'll become these giants' prey."

"Remember what she says, understand?" Leon asked under his breath as the both made their way quickly through the woods.

"Why?"

"Nix-spirits are said to have... I guess you could call it 'heightened knowledge'..."

"Farewell warrior, ever brave, drifting onward to thy grave!" Those were the parting words of the nix-spirit. And Cloud couldn't help but shiver slightly as he jogged to catch up with Leon, not wanted to be left behind in the forest once again.

x x x

_ "Boy, do you remember how it felt?"_

_ "How what felt?"_

_ "Being born."_

_ "...No. Nobody knows that."_

_ "Do you remember what it felt like before? Before you were born, when you were simply there, but not?"_

_ "Of course I don't remember."_

_ "I do."_

_ "...Who are you?"_

_ "I am you." _

_ In the blackness of Cloud's mind, shadows twisted into a grin and noises bubbled up deep from within the caverns Cloud could never hope to see. He feet sunk into his, his hands were buried in it, and his cries were lost within it. "Where am I?" he wailed, only sinking deeper and deeper, his mind nothing more than a rapid slideshow of memories, old and new, good and bad._

_ "Cloud, I made cookies. Here you go..." _

_ "I'm sorry, Cloud... Listen, I really... Man. I don't know how to tell ya this, kid."_

_ "...May they rest in peace..."_

_ "I said hurry up, you little-"_

_ "Hey, it's okay kid. Don't worry about me, okay?"_

_ "He went away. That's... all I can tell you, alright?"_

_ "__Leon__!"_

_ Wait..._

_ "__Leon__! Stop!"_

_ That wasn't a memory..._

_ "Come back... don't leave me here... please... I believe you... I believe, I believe, I believe..."_

_ And in only a split second, it ended. There were no more memories to cling to and no more visions to hold on to. Only the darkness around him and the chilling voice that still haunted him..._

_ "Where are you, you ask? You, boy, are right where you began."_

_ Cloud let out a small sigh, but it wasn't from relief or exasperation. Truth be told, he didn't know what it was from. But it was all the breath he had left before he closed his eyes and gave in._

_ "This is where I know you from."_

Cloud's eyes blearily shot open and the entire world was thrown into some sort of blurry, foggy haze. ...It was about then that Cloud realized he was crying and he promptly buried his face back into his folded arms. But then there was once again a small, hesitant pull at his arm and Cloud lifted his head once again, thankful for the darkness the night cast on them. That way Leon couldn't tell he was crying.

"We can't find Zidane..."

"Still?"

Leon nodded once and the caravan fell silent. The only noise came from outside, Paine's rushed and worried voice, Rikku's optimistic and hopeful one... Cloud closed his eyes again, trying to will himself to get a grip and stop worrying about silly dreams. What he really needed to be focusing on was Zidane... Not this...

"What'd Tidus say?"

"He'd gone to get the chocobo some food from this caravan. When he came back, Zidane was just gone."

"...Oh."

"...I'm worried."

"...Me too."

Leon shook his head and Cloud thought he saw a small flash of a smile... but then again, his vision was still pretty messed up. He would've shrugged it all off had it not been for...

"No, I'm worried about _you_. Zidane can take care of himself."

"What, so I can't?"

"...I'm sorry."

"Stop _saying_ that."

"Alright."

"Wait... why are you worried about **me**, for crying out loud?"

"...I hear you dreaming."

"...You do?"

"...Yeah."

"...Oh."

"Are you okay?"

Rather than answering, Cloud simply rolled over, facing away from Leon once again. It was childish and he knew it, but he didn't want to face more questions. He didn't want to face Leon's clumsily caring nature when he didn't even know _why_ the brunette cared in the first place. He didn't want to face his dreams, he didn't want to face... He didn't want to face anything.

But Traverse Town was only a few hours away.

And there are some things that you just have to face.

(x) (x) (x)

The rhymes and riddles from the nix-spirit aren't mine. I just collected them from children's stories and rearranged some words and changed it around a bit so it fit. And it does fit. As far as the nix-spirit herself goes, are there any guesses as to who she might be? It's **really** easy, and if you know that and if you piece together her riddles, you can figure out almost an entire sub-plot and roughly half of the main plot. XD Whoo! That can keep you busy until I get around to working on chapter four.


	4. Web

**Lucky Thirteen**

'Web'

Leon's dream-world was quite unlike what you would imagine. Rather than mirroring the seemingly cold and harsh personality the man had, inside his mind and in his subconscious world, everything was soft and sweet as could be. Waterfalls, meadows, forests and lakes. Flowers, hills, and just one tiny little indication of human life. A circle, no wider that ten feet in diameter, of stones. And in the center of the circle...

"Morning, sleepyhead!"

Snap.

Down fell the flowers and the pretty waterfalls. Back to reality as the stormy gray eyes snapped open, falling on the communicator screen not five inches away from his face. "Rinoa!" Leon croaked through a sleep-clogged voice.

"Hmpf! Well nice to see you too, Squall!"

"...It's Leon," he corrected irritably, shifting his position to rest most of his weight on his elbows. Where was he...?

"Oh that's right! Sorry. Guess I kinda forgot."

Leon lay on the dew covered ground across from the caravan, just underneath the base of a large elm tree. He'd been on guard... right? _Some guard. I can't even do **that** right anymore. If someone had tried something during the night... _Shaking his head, Leon pulled himself back into the conversation at hand, picking up the communicator from the ground and wiping some of the dew from its screen with his sleeve to reveal the dark-haired girl beaming at him from wherever it was Rinoa was transmitting from.

"Yeah. Guess you kinda did," Leon drawled, having to fight the urge to roll his eyes. What could he say? Feeling like he'd failed at one simple little job really put him in a rotten mood.

But either Rinoa was blissfully unaware of Leon's mood, or she simply chose to blissfully ignore it. Much like she'd done during the few times the two of them had actually interacted in the past. Seeming to remember something out of the blue (though it was quite clearly the entire reason behind her waking Leon up...), she said, "Hey listen, is... ahem. Is _you-know-who_ there?"

"..." Leon blinked.

"You _know_..."

"..." Leon raised an eyebrow.

"_Cloud_, you dork," Rinoa groaned, rolling her eyes and clapping one palm to her forehead in exasperation.

"Um... he's asleep."

"Well wake him up!"

"No. He should sleep."

At this, Rinoa's eyes narrowed into a firm glare as she muttered, "You're not his _mother_. Please, Squa- Leon. I need to talk to him!"

"Why?"

That one simple question threw Rinoa off onto a seemingly random and pointless tangent. All Leon could really pick up from her voice as it rattled through the communicator nonstop was something like... "..._really_ unfair... does _any_ work around here but me! And **Aerith**... totally on my back about _everything_... meeting in like, **ten minutes**! But before... practically _demanded_ that I go down here and call you."

By that point Leon was pretty sure that Cloud was going to be woken up in a few moments anyway, what with the way Rinoa was getting so worked up and nearly shouting into the poor little communicator. Try as he might to cover up the little speaker portions of the gadget, all his attempts at blocking out the noise were absolutely futile. So the way Leon saw it...

"Cloud, wake up."

Jostled from his slumber by a rather abrupt poke at his calves, Cloud hauled himself upright, rubbing both blue eyes with his fists as he murmured, "Hah... uh... L-Leon... hey..."

"Good morning." A small smile graced Leon's mouth as he noted the sleep-mussed hair Cloud sported as well as the wide yawn as sleepy eyes. Adorable? Adorable, adorable. More words to an ever-expanding vocabulary. But snapping back into the issue at hand, Leon shook his head slightly, saying, "There's... someone who wants to speak with you."

Cloud blinked. He leaned to the side to peer around Leon. And all he got was a view of the empty clearing outside of the caravan, just beginning to light up with the first rays of the morning sun. Blinking again, he looked at Leon and plainly stated, "...I don't see anybody."

"Here." Leon handed him the communicator, to which Cloud only blinked and stared on in bafflement as Leon tried to explain. "This is-"

"Rinoa Heartilly! Pleased to meet you, Cloud Strife!" There, on the little four-by-four screen set into an intricate looking little gadget, was the face of a young woman, probably no older than twenty-one or twenty-two. Her eyes were cheerful and the corners of her mouth seemed to curl upward into a small smile by default, but it wasn't done so in any way that may be considered the least bit unpleasant. A cute girl, for sure, but that didn't exactly clear Cloud's mind full of confused questions.

"Huh? Hey, how do you know my..."

"Your name? Hehehe, I know way more about you than just your name, Cloud. Don't think for a minute that it's anything extraordinary!" Rinoa stuck her tongue out at this and giggled before snapping back into attention mode as her gaze seemed to switch from Cloud back over to Leon through the tiny handheld screen. Nodding once, she said, "Okay Leon, I'll take over from here. I need to speak with Cloud alone for a moment."

"...Fine."

"Whoa, wait a second, why does he have to leave?" Cloud glanced at Leon. Leon glanced at Cloud. Rinoa glanced back and forth between the two. After an awkward moment or two of this, Cloud hastily added on, "...Not that I _care_."

"...Well... Cloud, I just need to ask you some personal questions. That's all. If you don't mind sharing some of this _personal_, **private**, **_important_** information with Leon, who I'm reasonably certain has told you absolutely nothing since the two of you first met, then he can certainly stay!"

"..."

"..."

"Later, Leon."

"Hn. I figured as much." Leon rolled his eyes and slid out the entrance to the caravan, leaving Cloud alone with the communicator and the girl at the other end of it. _Looks like things have started to take on a whole new level of weirdness..._

The formalities over and done with and Leon out of the way, Rinoa jumped right to the chase, putting on a no-nonsense expression as she said, "Okay! So really, how much _has_ Leon filled you in on?"

"...As you said, not much... Paopu juice being used as fuel... some crap about archaeology and astrology..."

"Oh you're one of _those_ people. Great." The corners of her mouth twisting downward in a small frown, Rinoa glared and crossed her arms, the perfect picture of defiance. Cloud, however, was just a little bit... befuddled.

"...Um...?"

"I'm an astrologist, Cloud."

"...Oh."

"Mmhm. And if you think for one minute that the concept is full of shit, then just get out of my sight. Because if you can't at least have a _little_ faith in the practice, there's no way you're going to believe a word I'm about to try and explain to you."

"Alright... I'll try then?"

"That's all I'm asking!" Bit by bit, Cloud began to think that Rinoa was definitely the victim of some sort of split personality disorder, especially as she jumped from her cold and serious tone to a quick and light-hearted voice. "Okay, point one. The Legend of the Paopu Fruit. Stars. All ties together, you know? Every two people share one, correct?"

"...Yeah, sure..."

"And when they meet it falls from the sky and takes on the shape of a fruit they can share. That fruit, the paopu, binds their destinies together forever. But what lots of people didn't know is that by using a special advanced classification of enzymes and electromagnetic energy, the juice is broken down into a simpler form. Basically, pulling apart the different elements and compounds that make up the fruit. This form of 'juice' can serve as fuel for tons of chemical reactions that are used to put out energy. Following?"

"Um... I think I'm following as best as I possibly can..."

"Good! Okay, so with this new little fuel invention, the queen has it made. Maleficent has pretty much found this little yellow-brick road-"

"What?"

"Okay, that was a bad analogy. Um... Archaeology! The dig site near Bastion, did Leon tell you about it?"

Cloud had to stop for a good long moment and think. With all the mumbo-jumbo that'd come out of everyone's mouth lately, it was a wonder he could really make sense of any of it at all. Finally, though, he did recall something to that extent. "He said that there _was_ one..." Cloud muttered.

"Alright. Well, Maleficent's team there is digging **way** deeper than anyone's ever gone before! No one knows what they're looking for because it's top secret. But I've pulled a couple strings, done a little dancing..."

"You dance?" Cloud asked, eyebrows raised and invisible question marks circling round his head.

"No. I was speaking figuratively. Anyway. We've found out that she's trying to locate this..." Narrowing her eyes, Rinoa appeared to fall into a deep state of concentration... or at least, something like it. With one index finger tapping pointedly against her chin and the very tip of her pink tongue sticking out from the corner of her mouth, Rinoa tried to come up with a word or phrase that could describe... "It's weird..." ...That could _describe_... "It's like..." Rinoa gave up with a huff of a sigh and a frustrated cough. "We've got diagrams of it here at headquarters. See, we're not exactly sure of what it is. We've got some guesses, but they're all pretty much shots in the dark."

After waiting a moment to ensure that Rinoa was quite done with all this thinking nonsense, Cloud gave himself a moment to process the new little nugget of information. Finally, he nodded and spoke again. "Okay. Two questions. One... headquarters? Who exactly are you working for?"

"The Freedom Fighters! Working for a better tomorrow, equal rights for all, and freedom for serfs like you!" With a grin, Rinoa winked mischievously, clapping her hands together excitedly. It was then that Cloud absentmindedly noticed that her communicator must have sitting on some sort of table or other surface or something. Otherwise the little gadget probably would have crashed to the floor by that point and broken. ...Not a bad idea. Damn the surface. Whatever it was.

"...O-kaaay. Two... what does any of this have to do with me?"

"That, Strifey boy, is where the astrology comes in..."

"What?" As much as Cloud hated sounded like the idiot in the lot, there was nothing else he could say, really. He was tired, groggy, and confused. With all this, it just didn't seem like today was going to be his day at all...

"Well... Okay. I'll try and simplify it as much as possible just because I want you to have a basic understanding of what's going on before you get here, okay?"

"Wait, I'm coming there? Where's there?"

"Here!"

"But where's here!"

"Headquarters!"

"Where's that?"

"Con-fi-den-ti-al, my friend!" Rinoa chirped, giggling a little and smiling, smiling, smiling. _Why so much smiling?_ "Now **shhh** and listen because I gotta split in a couple minutes or I'll be late for another briefing. And if that happens, Aerith'll really grill my ass. So listen up, okay?

"Maleficent has been led to believe that this dig, this discovery, and this revolution -you could call in an industrial revolution, of sorts- is all part of her destiny. The overthrowing of the king, the establishment of the Militia... Someone predicted all of it for her _using_ astrology. And it's been accurate, it's been true, it's been word-to-word as he predicted. But there's one little problem..."

"What's that?"

"See, with reading stars, you have to see their lifelines."

"Lifelines?" _I'm beginning to think I lived as a parrot in a past life._

"Yes. Stars have life-spans, Cloud. It's like... you know how all stars eventually explode, right? Well, they 'explode' whenever two destined people meet here on earth. Their explosion destroys the star in the sky and recreates it as the fruit down here. It falls, it explodes, it doesn't matter. It disappears from the sky. Ideally, the lifelines of stars are sort of like... Sort of like a timer. When the timer goes off, the two people meet and the star 'dies.' In many cases, the lifeline is a tangible thing, acting as a sort of train-track to guide the star on its decent towards earth. The lifelines are stretched all across the sky and through advanced studies of astrology and lots of magical aid, some people can even _see_ the lines.

"There's also cause to believe that the lifelines of stars are crossed by the lifelines of other stars, signifying the meetings between people who will somehow affect another person's destiny. So right now, are you believing a word I'm saying? Yes or no?"

His mind a riddle of lines and stars, all Cloud could manage to say was, "Alright... sure, fine, I'll buy it."

"Good. Well. Here's where Maleficent comes in. There's a star whose lifeline crosses Maleficent's own... and cuts it off."

"So? Everyone dies eventually, and if I'm getting what you're saying, then-"

"That star is yours."

"...E-excuse me?"

"...Okay. To make a long story short, Maleficent wants you gone and out of the picture. You are the person who's destined to meddle in her plans. You're the one who's destined to help us free everyone else, to help put the king back onto the throne that's rightfully his... Cloud, you're the one meant to do so many great things! Escaping from Destati was only the very beginning..." Rinoa's eyes shone hopefully, even through the rough pixel screen of the communicator. Something about the entire thing seemed completely unreal to Cloud, as though it weren't really happening to him at all, but to someone else. He was just a...

_A spectator, right boy?_

"..." _The voice in my head, the weird dreams starting up all of a sudden... _"I..." _They only started once I left Destati. Once __Leon__ started dragging me out on this whole insane adventure of his._"...I... That... That can't be right." _...It **is** his, isn't it? __Leon__'s adventure?__ Not mine, right? _"I know you may think... Maybe I just don't believe it because of the astrology part. But it's not just that. Look at me... Heh. I'm... just nobody."

"No! No, Cloud, please. We need your help. We can't do it without you!" The image on the screen bucked and jolted suddenly as Rinoa apparently grabbed the communicator off the table it'd been sitting on and shook it violently. The whole thing probably would've made Cloud laugh out loud, had it not happened under such bizarre circumstances. Realizing what she was doing, Rinoa winced and brought the communicator back to a stilled position, though it still trembled slightly as it was clutched in her hands and held before her face.

"...Don't you want to help all your friends and family back home? Don't you want them to have a life outside of harvesting and picking and shipping off fruit? Don't you want them to amount to so much more?" Pausing a moment, both sat in silence, though both were miles upon miles away from the other. When Rinoa spoke again, she was unable to keep a disappointed edge from her voice, almost as though Cloud had let everyone down. The entire world, and himself. "...And what about you? Don't you want the same for yourself? ...You're meant to be great, Cloud."

"...I'm just a fucked up kid looking for a life of his own, Rinoa. I think you've nabbed the wrong guy."

"No I haven't. Leon knows it's you!"

"Where does he tie in with all this?"

"..." Again, Rinoa fell silent, but she quickly picked up with, "I... have to go to my briefing now."

"Hey, wait a minute, Rino-"

"Ask Leon to fill you in on the rest! It was nice speaking with you Cloud! I look forward to meeting you in person!" And the screen faded to black as the communicator on the other end of the connection was switched off.

x x x

Hard black shoes clacked noisily against the stone flooring of the palace hallway floor, the bulk they carried moving swiftly forward, garbed in the simple attire of an everyday servant. But she wasn't exactly an everyday servant. If one were to stand opposite of her and see her waddling along down the corridor, it was quite plain and simple to see that the portly young woman carried herself very highly and with a great deal of self-respect.

For indeed, as one of the head servants in all of Queen Maleficent's staff, who would not be proud and noble?

No one. That was who.

...Almost no one.

_"At last may I upon this shore lighten my sorrow with soft tears. Alas, alas, I see no more my love, who yet my sadness cheers."_

Reaching the end of the long hallway, the servant pulled out a long spindly gold key, inserting it carefully into the keyhole of the grand door covered with intricate etchings and polished to the highest gleam. She gave a satisfied smile as she felt the key click into place, the knob turn and open to her will, the door swinging forward and to the side just seven or eight inches. Enough for her to stick her rather doughy head into the room and peer around curiously, drinking in the sight with a greedy relish.

Gorgeous could not describe it. It could not even _begin_ to describe it. Fabrics of the richest kind -velvets, silks, satins, all variety of colors and sheens- draped from the ceiling in an overlapping array, spiraling downward once their ends met with the walls. Tapestries clung to the few empty spaces on those very walls, expensive, intricate, and completely unrelated to one another. For all that tapestries were supposed to convey a story, the best that these tapestries could seems to pull off was to convey a pretty picture. Aside from the large bed and the large windows and the large size of the room, it was all incredibly dainty and almost ethereal.

Much, perhaps, like the room's only occupant.

"Excuse me? M'lady? Are you awake?" Stepping a few paces into the room, shutting and locking the door firmly behind her, the servant toddled over towards the large bed, just far enough to catch a glimpse of two slender legs sticking out over the edge of the bed, the small feet at their ends clad in soft white slippers, one foot swaying back and forth to a silent melody. Whatever melody it was clearly broken as the servant exclaimed, "There you are! Her Majesty requests your presence at dinner tonight, m'lady."

Other than the pause from the swaying of the foot, there was no response. Hesitantly, the servant spoke up again. "...Ehm... She grows concerned for you have not eaten in days, m'lady..."

"Please go away."

"But... Her Highness asked if you might-"

_"And thou, oh raging, stormy sea, stirred by wild winds, from depth to height, thou holds my loved one far from me, and I am captive to thy might."_

"I said go away!" Though the voice was not particularly harsh or biting, it was still somehow a voice that demanded to be obeyed. Quite understandable, regarding the circumstances, but still... That didn't keep the servant from trembling slightly as she tipped herself downward hurriedly into a brief curtsey.

"Yes m'lady! R-right away!" she babbled, right before frantically fleeing the room, all sense of pride and dignity gone in a flash.

The young woman seated on the bed closed her eyes and inhaled as much air as her lungs could bear to hold, filling them until they were fit to burst, and then exhaling slow and steady. For all that it was supposed to calm her down and relax her fraying nerves, it wasn't exactly living up to that potential in the slightest.

Then there came the approach of another, with the turn of the doorknob. _No keys, of course. She doesn't need them, after all._ The Queen saw everything that went on in the castle, knew everything that every happened within its walls during her reign. Not a day went by in which she did not strike down at least one assassination attempt, at least one plan for revolution and mutiny amongst the servants. Servants. What lowly creatures.

Stepping into the room, the Queen held the air of the dead with her, creating a truly rotten stink that no human nose could possibly hope to pick up. Rather, it was the mind to pick it up first, perhaps the heart, if you believe a muscle buried within the chest like that can control such things. And perhaps many people were oblivious to this stench, this filthy stagnating air around her. Perhaps that was indeed the case, for why else could so many stand to be in the same room as the woman when her body and her soul made their minds reel with disgust?

Well. For all that the rest of the world could very well have been oblivious to her reek, the young woman seated on the bed was certainly not. The Queen's entrance into her room made her cringe unconsciously, much like one would do if they were to step on a slug in bare feet.

The Queen spoke. "...Perhaps we have not reached the understanding I believed we had."

And as custom and deal required, the young woman responded. "There is no understanding between us."

"Watch your tongue, child. You will address me properly and you will treat me with the respect I deserve. That is part of our understanding. Are we clear on this?" Briskly striding across the room, the door banged shut behind the Queen, seemingly on its own, but doubtlessly compelled to by the own sheer will of Maleficent, sorceress, duchess, and then finally, queen.

As she reached the edge of the towering canopy bed, Maleficent stared down at the girl before her with disgust, one lip curling up at the very sight. Sniffing indignantly, the Queen regained her composure, speaking with a sharp and piercing tone as she said, "...Now then. There is a meeting taking place to plan the events of the Midsummer Festival. You will be giving your speech... One of encouragement and faith. That is another part of our understanding."

"..."

"Or shall I bring her into play in all this? Do you really want to see me do that?"

"...No," the young girl muttered, refusing to raise her eyes from their fixation on the bedspread beneath her.

"Hm? What was that?"

"I said no."

The Queen was silent a moment, the room filling with all the noise of emptiness. Finally, she simply clicked her tongue twice in reprimand and said, "A princess must speak strong and clear. Do not forget this when you address my people." Reaching a clawed finger out towards the young girl, Maleficent smiled sweetly, tracing it along the pale skin of cheek, jaw, and neck. Almost fondly. Almost. Before she finished her visit with, "But do not forget that I am _not_ one of your loyal fans. _I_ am the one who rules _you_. That is the final part of our understanding."

_"My heart is still more wild than thine, for fate is cruel unto me. Why must I thus in exile pine? Why was my princess snatched from me?"_

x x x

Cloud appeared out on the roof of the caravan some time later, clambering up over the edge using the ladder there. Some might have considered it an idiotic idea, seeing as the caravan was moving briskly down the bumpy road. ...Lead by a lone loopy chocobo. ...Who was being ushered on by Tidus. ...Yes, that was the real problem.

"Leon, can I talk to you?" Cloud asked, reaching the roof of the caravan and easily clambering up on top. Perfect. It was just him and Leon. ...? ...And... Paine?

Glancing at the crimson-eyed girl perched on the edge of the caravan, Cloud hesitated only a moment before clumsily tacking on, "...Maybe alone?"

"I'm not moving."

"Paine..." Leon started.

"Idiot," she shot back.

_Well that was easy. ...Sort of._

Watching as the girl moodily climbed back down the ladder, swinging into the caravan below, Cloud let out a deep sigh, raking his fingers through his hair. _Hmm... this is the opportunity I wanted, right? _"Well. She's just a bag of sunshine, isn't she?"

"She's still upset about Zidane. He's her responsibility, you know."

"...Hmpf. Doesn't give her the right to walk around with a ten foot pole up her ass."

Both sat in silence for a moment. ...Well, not really silence. There was the rattle of the caravan over the dirt and gravel road, there was the squawk of the chocobo as Tidus whistled an off-key tune and drove the caravan ever onwards. Forest noises, some river babbling nonstop nearby, talking over the din of rocks and driftwood. Oh yes. A very noisy environment indeed.

"So what did you want to talk about?" Leon asked out of the blue.

"Rinoa?" Cloud prompted, eagerly grabbing hold of the little nugget of conversation. "What's up with you guys? I mean, she explained _some_ stuff to me, but there's still a whole lot of... big ugly blank spaces. They could really use some filling right about now."

"...Oh. Well, what'd she tell you?"

"Some crap story about how I'm supposed to kill the queen."

"Anything else?"

"Astrology, astronomy. Stars, fruit, and energy." Cloud shot a look of into the distance, a look that, at this moment in time, has no definition. It had no definition back then either. Perhaps in the future, words can capture that look. It was not one of remorse or mourn of any sort. But it was far from happy. "I'm not understanding this. Any of it."

"You don't have to."

"What, you expect me just to go along for the ride?"

Leon allowed a small smile to just barely flicker across his face, resting his elbows on his knees as he turned and said, "It's what you seem to be doing now. And it's going just fine, is it not?"

There were words for Cloud's look right then. Sulking. Pouting. And so on. Shooting Leon that dirty look, Cloud mimicked the position his friend had moved into, letting out a deep sigh in the process. "...Man, you are one weird cookie, you know that? If you were in my place, you'd go _ballistic_ not knowing what was going on! I **know** you would!"

"Oh, you do now, do you?"

"Yeah. I _know_ you, whether you'd like to think so or not. I've totally got you pegged."

This fact, along with several others, somehow made Leon oddly happy at that moment in time. The moment he spotted the feeling, he regarded it with a puzzled glance, tucking it neatly off to the side in his organized manner, determined to puzzle over it later.

But what were some of the other facts that made that moment happy? Probably the gentle breeze. Probably the way it ruffled Cloud's air and carried his heat towards Leon, teasing, tormenting, but nonetheless comforting. Just a breeze. But it meant so much, you see.

x x x

"Rinoa... Never tell someone they're meant to be great."

"Well why not! It's the truth, isn't it?"

"...You knew he would just deny it."

"No. I wouldn't put it past Squa- Leon to deny it. I was hoping this guy would be different!"

"They _are_ different. ...Rinoa... Please, please, _please_ don't forget that they're two very different people who still don't understand each other. Cloud doesn't even know how he got flung into all this mess and there's still **so much** he doesn't know. Please... Don't be angry with him. Don't put pressure on him. Not now. Not when we have to expect so much from him already."

"...Fine. I'll be in my room. Tell me when you pick anything up from her."

"...That was... Another thing I wanted to talk to you about."

"I'm listening."

"...Well... I think... we're going to need to ask Leon for a favor..."

x x x

"Up and do-o-wn this road I go!" Cloud grinned and hummed an upbeat little tune, pumping his fists into the air as the small little procession made their way through the city streets. Leon rolled his eyes skyward, wondering how the hell he ended up escorting Care Bear Cheer-A-Lot and her merry men.

_Heh.__ That was pretty good. Cloud would like it._

"Up and do-o-wn this-!"

"Cloud, don't you know any _other_ words to that song?" Selphie asked, making a face and clamping her hands tightly over her ears. The entire traveling crew was looped in a circle around Cloud, almost completely blocking him from the view of the city dwellers. Mostly, this was because no one in the little band really knew if the wanted signs for Cloud had made it this far into the kingdom yet. Besides, it was better to be safe than sorry.

...But for a wanted criminal, Cloud sure seemed pretty upbeat.

Traverse Town was the typical booming industrial town of that time, with houses building up two or three stories high, shouting villagers milling about the streets, and cart after cart of goods and merchandise clattering across the cobblestones. There a deeper sense of peace hovering in the air, whereas Olympus had been filled with the hostile clamor of a marketplace from dawn until dusk. All in all, it was a charming town, its prosperity not yet having turned it into an oversized breeding ground for crime and rubbish.

"Up and do-o-wn this road I go!"

"**_Cloud_**! Learn the lyrics or shut the hell up!"

"Leon likes my singing, don't you Leon?"

"Leon..." Pained warned, her voice taking on a razor sharp edge as her left eye twitched slightly. There were some people who were able to put up with even the most off-key of all singers. Paine... was not one of these people. Nonetheless, Leon remained silent.

"..."

"Idiot."

"I win." Cloud grinned, slinging one arm around Leon's shoulders despite the significant height difference between the two. He would've taken the opportunity to ruffle the brunette's hair as well, but he wasn't exactly sure if the seemingly stoic old bounty hunter would take to that. Instead, Cloud simply settled for saying, "Good call, Leon. I knew you had guts the moment I laid eyes on you."

"...Guts?" Leon questioned.

"Yeah! You know! Guts!"

"Guts."

"Guts. Courage. Moxy. Jazz, drive, and hard core power. You know. Guts!" _Yeesh__, you'd think this guy never knew what guts meant. Well, aside from the gobs of 'em we've all got sloshing around inside us..._

"Guts..." Leon repeated softly once more, the small word rolling off his tongue. More vocab. Adorable. Guts. _Adorable guts?_

"Guts!" Rikku took the moment to chirp in as well, much to Paine's dismay. "Leon's gots guts!"

"Gots guts?" Selphie asked, blinking owlishly at Cloud.

"Uh, guys...?" Tidus started to say something, but what soon cut off by...

"Guys gots guts." Rikku.

"Guys gots goobles of garbled guts." And then Selphie.

"Gutsy guys get guarded gauntlets garbed grandly in great gobs of gook." Rikku, once more.

"Hell-ooo?" Tidus whined, trying to break the G-spell. _G-spell?__ Like the g-sp-!_

"Great ghastly gambling gutsy guards go gliding glibly, gaily, grossly, gaining grand gators gulping galloping guitars!" Everyone stared at Cloud in shock. Could simply grinned and gave a small mocking bow. "Thank you, thank you. Beat that."

"I can't."

"You're no fun."

"..." Leon... was very, very confused.

Thankfully, that was a perfectly acceptable time for confusion, for the traveling troupe had just reached the very building they'd set out for what seemed like years ago.

x x x

It was some time later that Cloud and Leon both found themselves sitting alone in one of the many stately guestrooms in the lower floor of the Headquarters Rinoa and Aerith had set up. Having arrived later in the evening, they'd been assured that everything would be explained in the morning. And with that, they'd been hurried off to their room by a slender little brown haired boy who looked suspiciously like Cloud.

Perhaps it was because he was slightly miffed about discovering his adorable twin. Perhaps it was simply the stress from being led on a wild goose chase while blindfolded, dizzy, and missing a left shoe. ...Perhaps it was just because the liquor cabinet was there, looking so sad, forlorn, and untouched.

Most likely, it was the last of the three that brought about Cloud's drunken stupor.

Draped over a crimson chaise lounge, Cloud cradled a deep glass of red wine in one hand, the other clinging to the furniture in a half-hearted attempt at keeping him somewhat upright in his tipsy state. Leon sat across the room, having just shut off his communicator after a quick chat with Rinoa, listening and watching it all take place with an expression that wavered somewhere between the lines of amusement and concern. The funny thing? Cloud was only on his second glass.

"The past? It doesn't matter. It's gone. Gone, gone, gone."

"You seem so sure about that. Get over things easily, I take it?"

"Rule with a big stick! Haha!"

Leon's eyes widened slightly, the poor bounty hunter thoroughly confused by that point. "...Cloud, that's not exactly-"

"Drive the chocobo fast, crash the carriage, and make merry love with the princess until the cows come home." Cloud was far too busy waving his arm about for emphasis (somehow managing not to slosh his precious drink of choice everywhere in the process...) to notice the small frown on Leon's face that replaced the mildly amused smirk he'd previously worn.

"...Do you ever really think about anything else?" Leon asked.

"Of course! I think about scads of things!" Cloud assured him, nodding his head firmly.

"...Scads?"

"Yes, boyo! Scads!"

"...You called me boyo." Leon blinked once more, drowning in some sort of emotion. He... couldn't really pin it. But it made chest hurt and it made him want to burst into laughter and rolls on the floor clutching his sides... yet the laughter, for some reason, wouldn't come. "...Why?"

"Ohhh, I don't know."

"Cloud... I think you may be drunk."

"Nnnnewp. Wrong again!" Cloud exclaimed, hauling his slushy body upwards into a standing position, apparently not noticing as he staggered several steps and ended up splayed across on of the two twin-sized beds in the guestroom. Point of interest: Cloud had never happened to land upon any mattress so soft as that one. So. Soft.

"Hey, I'm still sober enough to hear you out, Leon. And I'll tell you what..." Somehow, Cloud maneuvered his body over towards the other bed beside it where Leon was seated. Plopping down on the bed right beside the brunette, Cloud slung one arm around Leon's shoulders, his free hand extended with the win glass, the ruby red liquid catching the light in _such_ a pleasing way, really...

"You and me, buddy. We'll sorta go soul-searching, m'kay? Sure, I'll go along with whatever this Rinoa chick has planned. But in the meantime, we're gonna straighten out our seriously fucked-over lives. I'll help you fix yours, you'll help me fix mine. Sound good?" Cloud asked, smiling warmly. Whether the warmth was from the alcohol or from his words and pure, innocent intent... Well, Leon really didn't have a clue. Perhaps it was a little of both.

Did it even really matter?

"...Yeah." Leon returned the warm smile as best he could, though it still felt cold on his lips. _Why?_ "...It sounds really good."

"Haha! Maaan, sticking it through with **me** 'til the end? You got guts."

"Don't start with that again."

"Hey you guys!" Just then, the door to the guest room flew open, none other than Selphie bouncing through the doorway, spinning around in a quick circle, and striking a brief pose. Were Cloud entirely sober, that would've been the moment where he exchanged a look of bafflement with Leon. Instead, Leon gave the look of bafflement all on his lonesome while the drunken Cloud slumped against his side and giggled.

"Get to bed, sheesh! Aren't you tired at _all_ from today? And Leon, you're supposed to be up bright and early tomorrow. I don't think Rinoa would like you falling asleep on the job."

"...I _don't_ fall asleep on the job."

"...Yeah, I know. I just felt like nagging you." Selphie giggled and stuck her tongue out, spinning around once more, humming a few abstract notes of some abstract song before blowing out the candle lit on the desk beside the door. "Bed! Now! Lights out!" Granted... there were still two other little candles in the room, one beside either bed. But it was the symbolism of the act, not the affectivity of it. Of course.

As an afterthought as she turned out the doorway, Selphie chirped a concluding, "...And if I hear any naughty noises, I'm spanking the both of you. ...And you won't like it!" Slam. The door was shut. Selphie was gone. And it was almost a miracle just how fact Cloud sobered up.

"...Um... Leon?"

"...Please don't ask."

"Okay. I won't ask that. But... what thing are you supposed to get up for 'bright and early' tomorrow?"

Sliding off Leon's bed, Cloud wandered the several feet across to his own, kicking off his boots, setting his beloved wine glass on the bedside table, and flopping right back on down to a cushy mattress. _Man, are these things nothing but feathers?_

"...Well..."

"Are you going somewhere?" Cloud pressed, sitting up once more to slip out of his vest, followed by undoing the top few buttons of his shirt. Cloud got this far before being disturbed by the silence and glancing up.

Leon had gotten so far with watching Cloud before sensing the change and looking away.

Wonderful the way that worked.

"Cloud..." Leon started, his voice slightly warning, clear that Cloud had hit the target right in the dead center. So Leon was going somewhere in the morning. Perhaps all the conveniently placed wine was simply a way to make Cloud bedridden for the next day so Leon could get whatever business he needed to get done finished with. Well. Cloud certainly had other plans in mind.

"Alright then! It's settled! Bright and early tomorrow morning. I'll pack a picnic and we can take it with us!"

"..._Cloud_."

"Yes?"

"It's not a pleasure trip. It's a mission. It's dangerous." Leon tried to emphasis the whole point by looking back at Cloud and striking him with a serious glare. But alas, the blonde wasn't paying attention. No attention at all, as a matter of fact. He was busying himself with unbuttoning the rest of the buttons on his shirt, fumbling around while he did so and cursing buttons and their Button-Creator. Meanwhile, the whole situation didn't do Leon's glare a whole lot of good. It died right on his face and dribbled away into nothing but a look of extreme interest.

...Which he quickly suppressed by rolling onto his back and forcing himself to make eye contact with the ceiling. ..._Eye contact with the ceiling_?

"...Oohhh. A mis-si-on." Cloud jibed, his voice mocking and eyes rolling sarcastically. Leon didn't see it. Nope, he was still looking at his ceiling buddy up there. Cloud didn't notice, thankfully. He simply prattled on as he finished undressing and slid under the covered, saying in a more serious tone, "Hey. Ego check, Manly McMan. About two minutes ago, remember? _Soul.__ Searching._ You and me. As in we work **together**. None of this macho protection crap going on, got it?"

Wherever Leon's mind was at that moment, it wasn't far enough away to miss hearing that. And he simply smiled softly and replied, "...Got it."

"Good. Night then." Cloud leaned over and blew out both candles, submerging the entire room into complete darkness. Blinking in that very darkness, Cloud shuddered, though he wasn't quite sure why. Shaking his head, he pulled the covers up to his chin, looking at the ceiling. The room was full of ceiling-watchers that evening, it seemed.

"...Hey wait a sec, where exactly is it we're going tomorrow?" Cloud suddenly asked, sitting upright in bed and glancing over at Leon. Leon... whose eyes had just closed, tired from all the ceiling-watching and all.

"Cloud..."

"Hey! I'm serious! What are we doing!"

"Let's just say we're playing the knights in shining armor, okay?"

"...You know, that doesn't exactly tell me anything."

"No. But I'm tired. Now go to sleep."

"A straightforward answer. Plain and simple. That's aaaall I ask for! But do I get it? Noo-ooo."

"CLOUD."

"Sleeping." And then there was silence. No rattle of carts, no babble of brooks, rivers, or streams. Silence, darkness, and supposedly, sleep. ...But it wouldn't come.

"...Leon?"

"...What."

"...I meant it, though. When I said I do think about other things."

Nearly giving up on getting any rest whatsoever, Leon simply rolled over in bed to face the dark blotch across from his bed which he assumed was Cloud's bed, Cloud tucked up within it. Sighing, Leon asked, "What... are... some of the things you think about?"

"...I don't know." Cloud knew that was a silly response, and his mouth puckered into a soft frown as a result, his brows furrowed in concentration as he struggled to formulate the proper sentences to carry it all across. "When I was a kid, I found this dog. A stray. Puppy, I think, but not really. He was a couple years old. I snuck him into the house without telling my parents because Hades didn't allow any of the serfs to keep animals as pets.

"One of the first things he did was hop up onto my bed and pick up my stuffed dog in his mouth. I remember... I started yelling at him because I was worried he was going to tear it up. But he just lied down on the bed and started licking it. And then he... He grabbed it with his teeth, you know. Not real hard or anything. He'd pull on it a little, real gentle and everything and he'd push against it with his paw like this." Cloud rolled over to face Leon's neighboring bed, his hand pushing forward slightly into the air before withdrawing a little and repeating the motion several times more.

"He'd do that over and over again... I didn't really understand it at the time, but my mom later told me that he was trying to nurse. Like puppies do with their mothers. 'Isn't he too old for that?' I asked her. She said he was... but he probably hadn't had the chance for much of it as a puppy. That... maybe he was trying to make up for lost time and trying to fill in the little gaps that instincts and traditions left in his life."

Both Leon and Cloud stayed there in the dark silence for several moments, each staring up at the ceiling and each thinking of things that, while seemingly completely unrelated, were nonetheless very closely intertwined. You see, Cloud had never really found a stray dog. It had been another dream, another less frightening, more meaningful dream. One to cherish and believe, for without dreams, what is there left for us to believe in? What was there left for _Cloud_ to believe in?

But there it was, plain as day. Leon could take it or leave it, but at that particular point Cloud didn't much care one way or the other. Frankly, he wasn't entirely sure as to why he cared at all in the first place. Finally though, Leon did speak.

"So do you think humans do the same?"

"...Whaddya mean?"

"Do you think we're all trying to make up for lost time like that? Trying... to regain things we might have missed out on, or trying to get a feel for the love we might not all have had when we needed it most?"

A rustle of bed-sheets and quilts and Cloud was once again rolled onto his side, looking over at Leon in the darkness. Still, Leon stayed focused on the ceiling above him, though both he and Cloud were well aware of the one true and solid fact that remained: That ceiling held no answers.

Instead, Cloud answered for him.

"...Yeah. I do think so. In a way, I think there's something in everyone that is never really **right**, you know? Like a puzzle that's always missing one piece. Maybe lots of people go their whole lives without finding it, but somewhere along the way I think we all try and make replacements..." After trailing off for a moment and stifling along, he added, "That's why we gotta go soul-searching. You and me... If there's one thing we have in common, just one, it's all these missing pieces. We have lots missing. We gotta go find the pieces ourselves, 'cause no one else is gonna do it for us."

From two yards away, Leon's gaze wavered, for just a moment, from the unrelenting and uninteresting ceiling. "...You think so...?" he asked quietly, fingers twining silently around and around the cotton sheets, the warm quilt, the cool pillowcase.

"Yeah," Cloud answered firmly. It was the last clear response he could utter before his mind began to succumb to sleep. "Or at least, that's what I think..."

(x) (x) (x)

...XO This thing was huge. Sorry for the delay, but hopefully you can see why. If not, check the livejournal.

Oh, but for those of you My Oh My readers, you can expect that update within a few days. I don't know what it is about Lucky Thirteen, but it's becoming very difficult to write. Hmmm. Oh well. Thanks for reading, as always. XD And also as always, reviews are greatly appreciated.


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